She was a comfortable victor, crossing the line in 55min 37.2sec.

Kerttu Niskanen of Finland was 22.1sec behind for the silver medal.

Astrid Øyre Slind of Norway was almost another minute off the pace, holding off compatriot Ingvild Flugstad Østberg by four seconds for the bronze medal.

Emma Ribom of Sweden was fifth.

Third in the overall standings, American Jessie Diggins, was down in ninth.

Niskanen closed the gap to World Cup leader Tiril Udnes Weng of Norway as a result of her silver medal, with her foe missing the weekend in France due to recovering from illness.

Johannes Høsflot Klæbo claimed the men's 20km mass start gold, with the Norwegian extending his lead in the overall standings.

Klæbo claimed his 12th victory of the season in a time of 49:29.1, winning a sprint to the line with Iivo Niskanen of Finland and William Poromaa from Sweden, who were just a second behind.

Didrik Tønseth and Sjur Røthe Norway were in the running too, but ended up four seconds off the pace at the line to round out the top five.

Pål Golberg was sixth, keeping the pressure on Klæbo in the World Cup with 87 points separating the pair currently.