A World Cup gold medallist on his home course in Ivrea last year, De Gennaro was the slowest qualifier coming into the final.

However, he turned that form on its head to post a time of 1 min 32.83sec in the final.

The Italian took the gold medal by three seconds with his closest rival, Germany’s Sebastian Schubert, finishing second on 1:35.78.

Japan’s Kazuya Adachi rounded out the podium in third in 1:38.29.

“I didn’t expect this result, I’d had a really hard week,” De Gennaro said.

“I knew I could be fast, but I didn’t expect this time.

"I never take anything for granted, and I’ve been wondering a lot this season if I can be at this level.

“It’s good to be on the top, but I know there is still a lot to do.”

The women's C1 event also concluded today with Australia's Jessica Fox sealing the gold medal.

Spain’s Nuria Vilarrubla posted what appeared to be a gold-medal winning time of 1:46.40, before Fox flew down the course.

The Rio 2016 bronze and London 2012 silver medallist crossed the line in a stunning 1:41.46, to finish almost five seconds quicker than her nearest rival.

Another Australian, Ros Lawrence, collected the bronze medal, finishing in 1:51.46.

“I was aggressive from start to finish, and I got those stopper moves like I had visualised in my head, so it’s nice when a run comes together like that,” Fox said.

Racing in Germany is set to conclude tomorrow with the finals in both the men's C1 and women's K1 events.