Pedersen, a former distance runner who competed at the 2019 World Cross Country Championships, produced a blistering five kilometres en route to taking the gold medal.

The Dane completed the course in a time of 1hour 24sec, 12 seconds clear of nearest challenger Kirsten Kasper of the United States.

Austria’s Lisa Perterer was a second further adrift after losing out in a tense battle for silver with Kasper.

Pedersen has set her sights on competing at the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games following her first World Cup win.

"It went really well," she said. 

"My legs were feeling good and I was feeling comfortable and when I turned round I realised there was nobody close. 

"I was injured for the start of the qualification period for Tokyo but who knows what might happen and I’ll keep my fingers crossed."

The event was the last women's race in World Triathlon's Tokyo 2020 qualification period.

Perterer, who qualified for the Olympics at a test event in the Japanese capital back in 2019, said it had been a "good test" for the Games.

"I hope I can get some running in over the next five weeks," she said.