Virpi leads Finland home

The World Cup leader, along with Riitta Liisa Roponen, took the title in 16:20.9, comfortably seven tenths of a second ahead of Germany with Norway taking the bronze.

Kuitunen, part of the team that won bronze at last year's Olympics, had energy reserves aplenty as she surged away from Claudia Kuenzel-Nystad over the final 200m.

The top five teams were seperated by just 1.7 seconds at the halfway stage although Petra Majdic's hopes of another medal in Japan had already evaporated when team-mate Vesna Fabjan fell on the third leg.

Kazakhstan fell by the wayside when Oxana Jatskaja stumbled on an uphill section on the penultimate leg with Sweden's Brita Norgren also losing ground.

That set-up a three-way battle which Finland won with ease as Evi Sachenbacher Stehle and Kuenzel-Nystad took silver.

Defending champions Norway, comprising individual sprint gold medalist Astrid Jacobsen and defending World Cup sprint champion Marit Bjørgen, finished over three seconds back.

Olympic silver medalists Canada and Russia, winners of the bronze in 2005, failed to reach the final.