The German trio of Hendrik Rudolph, Darius Lodl, and Hans Koellner produced a dominant display to claim victory in the 3x7.5 kilometres race.

They crossed the line in 1 hour 1min 50.6sec with five spare rounds to finish comfortably ahead of the rest of the field.

Slovenia came through to secure the silver medal, 40.9 seconds behind the German team, while bronze went to Italy.

"I need to thank my team-mates for the great work they did before my exchange," said Koellner. 

"Darius built a big lead and I was happy to have the comfort of not being rushed on the shooting range. 

"I also need to reconfirm Benedikt's and Darius' praise for the skis, they were super fast. 

"All in all it has been a really great day, sharing such great moments just adds to that feeling."

Norway also enjoyed a commanding win as they powered to victory in the women's 3x6km in a time of 57:19.2

Maren Bakken, Marte Moeller and Anne De Besche brought home the gold medal for the Norwegian team ahead of squads from Germany and France.

Germany did enough for silver, crossing 17.7 seconds behind Norwegian anchor De Besche, while France held on to seal bronze.

"I didn't feel nervous at all, I saw how Maren and Marte have performed and I knew I just need to keep focus and go about my business," said De Besche. 

"Sure, I have seen German girl coming closer and closer but I felt I controlled the race well."

The event continues tomorrow with the junior men's and women's relays.