The three-time World Championships gold medallist crossed the line in 36min 41.1sec to top the podium following an intriguing 12.5 kilometres race.

Slovenia's Jakov Fak took the silver medal finishing 58.8 seconds behind Bø.

Defending World Cup champion Martin Fourcade of France was forced to settle for third having finished over a minute adrift of the victorious Norwegian.

Fourcade was made to work hard for his bronze medal as he outsprinted German rival Simon Schempp.

"This is the best start of the season in my career," said Bø. 

"I just want to enjoy it, because you do not know what the next races will bring.

"It was quite hard on the range today, many of the other athletes also missed in the first prone."

In the women's event, held over 10km, Anastasiya Kuzmina of Slovakia claimed her first victory on the IBU World Cup circuit in over three years.

Kuzmina, a two-time Olympic champion, recorded a single penalty on her way to finishing the course in 34:31.2.

It was enough for the Slovakian to end a World Cup drought stretching back to March 2014.

Kaisa Mäkäräinen of Finland came through to earn silver, while Belarus' Darya Domracheva won the bronze medal.

"It is always great to be on the podium and especially in first position," said Kuzmina. 

"After yesterday, I thought I had a chance, but it was not easy for me, especially on the shooting range.

"I could not catch my breath but I just tried to stay positive. 

"I took a long time on the last shooting, but finally it was good."

The World Cup event in Hochfilzen is due to conclude tomorrow with the men's 4x7.5km and women's 4x6km relay races.