The 24-year-old, who won the equivalent event at the same venue in 2013, produced a perfect shooting display on his way to clocking an unrivalled time of 22min 16.9sec in the French resort.

Victory continues Bø’s impressive recent form with the Norwegian having won the 10km sprint and 12.5km pursuit events in Austrian town Hochfilzen last week.

He now has a total of 17 IBU World Cup victories to his name.

Completing today’s podium were two home favourites as six-time overall World Cup champion Martin Fourcade and fellow Frenchman Antonin Guigonnat finished second and third respectively.

Both shot clean throughout with Fourcade ending up 21.1 seconds back and Guigonnat 34.7 seconds off the pace.

"Of course, I am not satisfied," Fourcade was reported as saying by Eurosport.

"I expect myself to get things.

"I will use the Christmas break now and then have more energy to start the New Year.

"With zero errors at the shooting range, Bø is currently unbeatable."

Action in Annecy-Le Grand Bornand is due to continue tomorrow.

The women’s 10km pursuit event will be followed by the men’s 12.5km pursuit competition.