Japan's Yamamoto led the 5 kilometres Gundersen at the halfway stage thanks to a jump of 143.5 metres on the large hill, which earned 159.4 points.

Germany's Schmid was second, with 157.5 points and starting eight seconds behind, but was the only athlete within half a minute of Yamamoto.

A two-way battle for victory between the pair appeared likely and so it turned out, with the fastest cross-country skiers having given themselves too much to do.

Schmid quickly caught Yamamoto and while there was little to separate the pair for much of the contest, Schmid burst clear late on to win by 5.9sec.

Olympic runner-up Jens Lurås Oftebro from Norway was third, a further 5.1sec back.

Jarl Magnus Riiber is seeking to win a fifth crystal globe in a row, but was undone by a poor jump.

The Norwegian was the fastest skier, 49.9sec quicker than Schmid, but had started more than two minutes later than the top two.

A 10km Gundersen is scheduled on tomorrow, before a mass start on Sunday (November 27).

This is Schmid's first World Cup win and just a second podium finish.

It was also a career-best World Cup result for Yamamoto.