The duathlon used a run-ski format where competitors had to run three laps of 1.35 kilometres and ski two laps of 3.1km.

The athletes had to repeat this block three times meaning there were five transitions for them to catch a small breather on Naturlandia’s mountain resort in Andorra.

Pesavento finished the elite men’s race with a time of 1hr 46mins 12secs - 2 mins 9 secs quicker than his closest competitor, Romania’s Viorel Palici.

The 25-year-old Italian started off well and opened a gap that his opponents could not close.

"I am really happy, was not expecting this," he said after the race.

"I planned this race today as a training session for the Winter Triathlon World Championships this Saturday, to get used to the venue and the course, and it played out well.

"The course is really hard, and being by myself almost all race didn’t make it easier. I now need to recover for Saturday."

Norway’s Hans Christian Tungesvik, the current Winter Triathlon world champion, secured bronze.

Medvedev, meanwhile, created an unassailable 4min 33sec gap between her and Norway’s Ine Skjellum to win the elite women’s race in a time of 2:05:30.

Romanian representative Maria Luisa Rasina took the final podium place at the event with a time of 2:14:13.

Italy saw more success in the under 23 men's category as Mattia Tanara topped a four-man race.

He finished on 1:52:30 whilst France’s silver medallist Marin Gautier recorded a time that was 2min 14sec slower.

The Netherlands’ Ian Pennekamp took bronze with a time of 1:59:07 and Czech Republic’s Adam Holomoucky concluded his race on 2:17:31.

Norway’s Julie Meinicke won the under-23 women’s race with a time of 2:16:23.

Spain’s Alvaro Lopez Lucia finished the junior men's race champion in 1:27:53.

Norwegian Victoria Nitteberg came out on top in the three-way junior women's event, with a time of 1:31:47.

Austria’s Katja Krenn finished on 1:47:03 whilst Spaniard Benilde Candial Dolz completed the course in 2:08:59.