Buoyed by the home crowd, the duo crossed the line in the final in a time of 18:23.48.

Shevchenko and Klimin's dominance was evident on their route to the final.

The pair also topped the standings in their semi-final, defeating 15 other pairs to book their place in the final with a time of 19:00.42.

Today's gold was Shevchenko's third medal here in Almaty after taking bronze in both the women's five kilometre individual classic and women's 5km pursuit.

The winners were sixth at the second exchange before increasing the tempo to gain momentum and ground on their opponents.

They eventually made their pace pay when they took a 3.96sec outright lead after the fifth exchange.

France's Celine Chopard Lallier and Louis Schwartz, who finished second to Shevchenko and Klimin in the semi-finals took the silver medal in 18:28.67.

Russians Vladimir Frolov and Maria Davydenkova then rounded out the podium in 18:29.50.