The duo of Andrey Parfenov and Gleb Retivykh triumphed over the 1.5 kilometre course in a time of 19 min 34.1sec, at a competition which is serving as a test event for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games. 

Retivykh had already won the individual classic sprint crown on Friday (February 3) before his compatriot Petr Sedov added the 30km skiathlon title yesterday.

Parfenov was third in the individual competition.

The event was slightly undermined, however, as many of the world's best athletes opted to forgo the long journey to instead concentrate on the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, which begin in Lahti in Finland on February 22.

Russia's victory was a close one as French pairing Baptiste Gros and Luca Chanavat were only 0.3 seconds adrift.

A second Russian team, consisting of Artem Maltsev and Nikita Kriukov, were third.

"It was just as hard skiing as it was in the classic the other day," said Retivykh.

"I did not know in the finish if we won until Andrey told me."

Sweden took top honours in the women's team sprint with Elin Mohlin and Maria Nordstroem finishing in 20:37.11.

It was a four-team battle heading into the final lap with Norway's Anna Svendsen and Silje Oeyre Slind coming in just 1.7 seconds behind.

There was bronze for the United States as Sophie Caldwell and Ida Sargent finished six seconds adrift.

"I believed Maria will go for victory, I knew she is very strong," said Mohlin. 

"It was very nice to compete in Pyeongchang."

The next leg of the Cross-Country World Cup season will take place in Otepää in Estonia on February 18 and 19.