Riiber looked set to beat the formidable Frenzel, who recently etched his name into the history books with an unprecedented 29th World Cup victory, before he inadvertently took a wrong turn on the course.

Riiber turned up the hill and appeared to be heading for a superb success but, instead of taking the outer lane into the finish strait, he took a left on to the track for lapping and then left the course borders to rejoin the right lane.

He was subsequently disqualified from the race.

Frenzel pounced on the mistake from the 18-year-old, crossing the line 1.7 seconds ahead of nearest challenger Akito Watabe of Japan in a time of 23min 57.7sec.

Riiber’s teammate Jan Schmid claimed the final spot on the podium as he came through to take the bronze medal.

“I’m pleased with today,” Schmid said.

“I’m a bit surprised that I skied well today and I’m looking to just improve in every competition.”

Riiber had topped the standings after the ski jumping round with a score of 137.5 points following a leap of 127.5 metres, which he  described as “good but not perfect” ahead of the cross-country section of the event.

Frenzel, the 10 kilometres normal hill Olympic champion, was well-placed in third thanks to a jump of 127.5m which earned him a total of 127 points.

Norway’s Havaard Klemetsen, meanwhile, went into the cross-country race in second with 130.5 points following an effort of 127m.

The young Norwegian was in control on the skis and it was not until the latter phase of the race where the likes of Frenzel and Watabe began to keep pace.

Following the miscalculation from Riiber, the German sensed his moment and, despite only recording the 23rd quickest time, was able to seal yet another win to extend his lead at the top of the overall standings.

He currently sits at the summit on a total of 1,011 points.

Watabe is his closet rival on 844 points.

The event in Lahti is due to continue tomorrow with the men’s team sprint competition.