Finland's Moilanen utilised his home advantage to earn the gold medal, crossing the line in 3mins 08.85sec. 

Norway’s Lars Agnar Hjelmeset followed in 3:10.53, with Emil Danielsson of Sweden completing the podium in 3:11.13. 

"It has been amazing day," Moilanen said. 

"When I woke up this morning, I thought that it might be a good day. 

"My shape has felt good for a while now and today everything was perfect starting from the qualification. 

"Also my skis were amazing and this is a dream come true."

It was a successful day for Poland in the women's junior classic sprint. 

Monika Skinder was the victor in 2:33.24, with compatriot Karolina Kaleta taking third in 2:33.97.

Moa Hansson of Sweden finished in between the two in 2:33.95.

"It is a great day for Poland, and I am very happy that both me and Karolina got medals," said Skinder. 

"I felt really good today and the whole day was amazing. 

"We have had hard trainings and special training planned by the coaches and right now we have two medals so seems like the training has been pretty good."

Competition continues in Vuokatti with under-23 sprint races tomorrow, when ski jumping and Nordic combined events will also begin in the Finnish capital Lahti.