The team relay event has been won by either France or Switzerland since 2013, with the former triumphing in 2019 in Leogang after three Swiss triumphs.

Mathias Azzaro, Lena Gerault and Jordan Sarrou were among France’s six-rider team that triumphed two years ago.

The trio returned to defend the title in Trentino with Adrien Boichis, Tatiana Tournut and Line Burquier.

Teams are required to field one elite, under-23 and junior rider for both men and women.

Azzaro, Boichis and Gerault completed the first three legs of the race for France, with the defending champions lying third after their laps.

France led the race for the first time after Tournut completed their fourth lap, overtaking Sweden.

Burquier handed over to Sarrou with a lead of more than  one minute over second-placed Germany, with France’s elite men’s rider able to preserve the advantage to seal victory.

The French squad completed the team relay in an overall time of 1 hour 25min 51sec to secure a record seventh victory, breaking a tie with Switzerland for the most wins.

A strong final leg from Riley Amos helped the United States overtake Germany to win silver by the narrowest of margins.

The US team of Christopher Blevins, Brayden Johnson, Savilia Blunk, Ruth Holcomb, Kate Courtney and Amos finished as the runners-up in 1:26.39.

Leon Reinhard Kaiser, Paul Schehl, Sina van Thiel, Nina Benz, Ronja Eibl and Luca Schwarzbauer won bronze for Germany.

Their six-rider team ended just one second behind the US, stopping the clock in 1:26:40.

Italy finished off the podium in fourth in 1:27:30, with Switzerland 25 seconds further back in fifth.

It marked the first time since 2015 that Switzerland had failed to secure a medal in the event.

The elite cross-country short track races are scheduled to be held tomorrow, along with junior Olympic-distance races.