The Netherlands' Lisa Bunschoten and France's Cécile Hernandez won women's team gold at the World Para Snowboard Championships in Pyha in Finland ©Para Snowboard/Twitter

The Netherlands’ Lisa Bunschoten and France’s Cécile Hernandez joined forces to win women’s gold as new team events brought to an end the World Para Snowboard Championships in Pyha in Finland.

Each team comprised two athletes from different categories racing against each other on the snowboard cross course at the Polar Madness venue. 

Unofficial medals were awarded to the women’s and men’s teams with the intention being to add the event into future competitions.

Bunschoten, a double SB-LL2 world champion in Pyha, gave Team Euro a strong start against Team North America by crossing the finish line first.

It signalled the drop of the gate of Hernandez, who begun her descent and went on to complete the job.

The SB-LL1 athlete was greeted by a hug from Bunschoten at the finish area.

"It was really cool, really fun," Hernandez said, after beating Canada’s Sandrine Hamel and the United States’s Brittani Coury to top spot.

"We were excited to race together and we are the winners – the blonde team."

Bunschoten added: "I think it’s great to improve the sport and it’s great to have an extra race.

"The other thing is you have to beat all the categories so that was really nice."

The team event completed a perfect sweep for Bunschoten.

For Hernandez, it helped her leave Pyha 2019 on a high note, as her world title in banked slalom was bittersweet without her main rival Brenna Huckaby of the United States racing.

"On a personal level, it was a weird Championships because Brenna wasn’t here – she was injured," Hernandez said.

"But I enjoyed my week and finishing with the team event was perfect."

Team China – Lu Jiangli and Pang Qiaorong – were third.

The men’s race was a dramatic affair, with Team Australia topping the podium.

In the first run, Ben Tudhope came in first to give Simon Patmore a modest lead.

Patmore cleanly rode the last three rollers, with the US’s Noah Elliott trailing.

But Elliott, who was crowned men’s SB-LL1 world champion yesterday, crashed at the final jump.

Despite the American getting up quickly, France’s Maxime Montaggioni nipped past him to give Team Alps, which included Italy’s Jacopo Luchini, second place.

Elliott and team-mate Zach Miller rounded off the top three.

"Today I came in just to have fun," said Tudhope, who had captured silver in snowboard cross SB-LL2 and finished fourth in banked slalom.

Patmore added: "Everyone else was very keen.

"As soon as the first gate dropped everyone was like: 'Oh, it’s on'.

"We were really loving it and it was a good vibe throughout the day."