It came in a cross-country format around the town of Svendborg on the island of Fyn in south-central Denmark. 

A one kilometre swim in the harbour was followed by a challenging 27km mountain bike section before a concluding 10km run. 

Ruzafa broke clear towards the end of the bike circuit and held a two minute lead by the time the run began. 

He was overhauled in the final stages last year by Mexican Francisco Serrano but made no mistake this time to cross first in 2 hours 6min 4sec.

New Zealand's Sam Osborne was second in 2:07:51 while France's Brice Daubord finished third in 2:08:39.

"It means a lot to me, because last year it was hard to get second," Ruzafa said.

"I worked hard to win this year and it means a lot to me and to have my family and everyone else supporting me."

Paterson led home a British 1-2 in the women's race after prevailing by more than two minutes in 2:27:10.

Nicole Walters finished second and Italy's Eleonard Peroncini was third, another 16 seconds off the pace.

"My goal was to swim as hard as I could, because I knew I had to get out in a group to get onto the trails and I got out exactly where I wanted to," Paterson said.

"On the bike, my goal was to get in front on the single-track and try to set the pace - and that’s exactly what I did. 

"I knew my running was strong, so coming into transition I knew I just had to get my game face on and just keep on going."