Rostovtsev, who finished runner-up to Gontar yesterday, defied the blustery, snowy conditions at the Alatau Cross-Country Skiing and Biathlon Complex to triumph in a time of 26 min 12.5sec.

Gontar was 14.7 seconds behind, while Armenia’s Sergey Mikayelyan was 52 seconds off the pace in third.

"Yesterday I had acclimatisation as I came down from the mountains," Rostovtsev said.

"I prepared in Sochi.

"Yesterday the race was very hard.

"Today I started and felt much better."

A similar scenario played out in the women’s five kilometres pursuit free event as Anna Nechaevskaya bounced back from finishing second to team-mate Lilia Vasilieva in yesterday’s women’s five kilometres individual classic to beat her rival to top honours.

Nechaevskaya clocked a time of 13:29.7, which was 18.1 seconds faster than Vasilieva.

Kazakhstan’s Anna Shevchenko replicated her bronze from yesterday after finishing 21.3 seconds back.

"The weather conditions today were very difficult," Nechaevskaya said.

"It had been snowing since the morning.

"The trail is soft and that is why it was very difficult to run today.

"The mountains are also a factor.

"To run at an altitude is more challenging."

Cross-country skiing action is due to continue on Thursday (February 2), when the men’s and women’s sprint classic events are scheduled.