The parallel sprint competitions were decided today ©Twitter/La Plagne

France’s Philippe Lau scored a victory on home snow as he won the parallel sprint crown at the International Ski Federation (FIS) Telemark World Championships in La Plagne.

Lau delighted the home crowd at the French ski resort by triumphing in the men’s competition in the telemark discipline, which features elements of both Alpine and Nordic skiing.

The home favourite advance through the early rounds of the competition and ultimately set up a final against Switzerland’s Nicolas Michel.

Lau was able to come out on top in their head-to-head battle for gold, comfortably finishing ahead of his rival.

Norway’s Trym Nygaard Loeken won the bronze medal, ending ahead of his compatriot Aadne Kristenstuen in the small final.

France and Switzerland also battled for gold in the women’s event with the host nation’s Argeline Tan Bouquet taking on Amelie Reymond.

Reymond would prevail in the contest, as she took an inside line on a turn to force herself into the lead in the race.

The Swiss skier would pull away from Tan Bouquet in the closing stages, allowing her to cruise across the line to gold.

She was congratulated by her team-mate Beatrice Zimmermann after crossing the line, with the pair then sharing a podium together.

It followed Zimmermann winning the small final against Norway’s Thea Smedheim Lunde to take the bronze medal.

The men’s and ladies’ classic events are due to take place tomorrow.