It was an intriguing clash in Slovenia as the two double Paralympic champions competed for the first time in a year.

Masters clocked a winning time of 14min 41.6sec as Gretsch came second in 15:17.3 ahead of Brazilian Aline dos Santos Rocha who finished in 15:48.3.

There was a Ukrainian one-two-three in the women’s cross-country standing contest with Liudmyla Liashenko leading the trio home in 13:16.1.

Oleksandra Kononova finished second in 13:58.9 with Yuliia Batenkova-Bauman completing the top three in 14:06.9.

In the women’s cross-country visually impaired race, Austrian Carina Edlinger stormed to victory with guide Daniel Bauer in 12:56.6.

Russians claimed the two other two medal places with Anna Panferova and guide Andrei Zhukov clocking 13:06.1 and Vera Khlyzova and guide Natalia Iakimova finishing in 13:49.7.

Italy’s Giuseppe Romele came out on top in the men’s cross-country sitting event after breaking the 13-minute barrier with a time of 12:59.4.

Second place went to Russian Ivan Golubkov in 13:11.9, while compatriot Aleksandr Davidovich had to settle for bronze in 13:24.4.

Russia’s defending World Cup champion Vladislav Lekomtsev won the men’s cross-country standing competition after clocking 16:37.2.

Frenchman Benjamin Daviet was second in 17:31.3 with Russian Rushan Minnegulov third in 17:44.6.

There was also Russian success in the men’s cross-country visually impaired race.

Nikolai Polukhin and guide Eduard Berezin clinched gold in 17:49.9 ahead of Ukraine's Iaroslav Reshetynskyi and guide Kostiantyn Yaremenko in 18:06.2.

Russian Stanislav Chokhlaev and guide Oleg Kolodiichuk placed third in 18:16.0.

The six-day meeting comprises of three cross-country and three biathlon races.

Competition continues tomorrow with cross-country sprint events.