There was an excitable atmosphere in the Aragón Valley as the event marked the first-ever World Cup races held in Spain.

The course is renowned for being tough, with four climbs of between 250 metres and 1,400m, and is one of the longest races on the WMRA World Cup circuit.

A staggered start was in place at Canfranc as coronavirus restrictions remain.

In the women's 45km race, Britain's Morgan charged into an early lead and by the top of the first 1,400m climb at Moleta she was four minutes ahead of France's Olivia Magnone in second.

Meanwhile in the men's race, Spaniard Fran Naval had established a three-minute lead over Frano as Naval's compatriots Raul Criado and Inigo Macias snapped at his heels just 30 seconds behind.

One long descent followed by a sharp 800m ascent signalled huge change as runners passed the 28km Candanchu checkpoint.

Slovakia's Frano was now in the lead, but Criado was just 30 seconds behind.

A gap of three minutes had opened back to Naval in third, with Macias another minute behind him.

By this point, Morgan had all but secured victory in the women's race as she extended her lead to 16 minutes over Magnone.

The Briton crossed the finish line in 6 hours 38min 9sec followed by Magnone and Spain's Eva Mesado.

Frano heled onto to his lead to see out the race in 5:38:16 to claim gold as Macias came in as runner-up and Criado slipped to third despite having holding second place for so long.

In the 16km race, 2019 world champion Grayson Murphy of the United States smashed the existing women's course record by 10min 35sec as she finished in 1:57:43.

In the men's race, Spain's Antonio Martinez lived up to expectations and replicated a 2020 win here, completing the course in 1:52:26.