Pellegrino ousted Russian duo Sergey Ustiugov, who was third in the 15km event competition and Andrey Parfenov with a finishing time of 2mins 34.99 seconds as he leapt into top spot in the overall sprint standings.

The victory for the 24-year-old rising star ensured he continued his imperious run of form following sprint wins at Davos in December and in Val Mustair earlier this month.

"This is just amazing for me," Pellegrino said.

"Before Davos I had never won a World Cup and now to have won 3 in a row is just unbelievable.

"I feel so strong right now.

"Hopefully with this success I can now find a sponsor for the front of my racing hat!"

Pellegrino sits top of the overall leaderboard on 330 points, with Noway's Finn Haagen Krogh 32 points behind in second.

History was also made in the women's event as Sweden's Jennie Oeberg made the most of a weakened field - with overall Norwegian top three Marit Bjørgen, Therese Johaug and Heidi Weng all opting to skip the Rybinsk meet - to claim her maiden World Cup victory.

Jennie Oeberg was also a key part of an historic day as she claimed her first ever World Cup win ©Getty Images



Oeberg finished in a time of 3mins 2.54 seconds ahead of Russia's Natalia Matveeva, who was 0.48 seconds adrift, and Laurien van der Graaf, who finished on the podium for the first time this season.

"This was my first ever sprint final so to win is just amazing," Oeberg said.

"I am really so happy and I felt really strong today.

"I was ready to win.

"This gives me confidence for the upcoming Swedish Championships which will be final selections for Falun 2015."

The competition concludes with the men's 15km skiathlon and the women's 7.5 skiathlon tomorrow.

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