The 26-year-old was rewarded for his consistency as he notched up 257.7 points to take the victory in Lillehammer.

A 135-metre attempt, worth 121.3 points, was enough for a second-place finish after round one before a colossal 139.5m jump scored a leading 136.4 to guarantee the gold medal.

Granerud pipped Olympic champion Stefan Kraft to the victory as the Austrian scored 255.4 points.

He was let down by a second jump which was only the fifth-best of the round.

Kraft's compatriot Manuel Fettner made up the top three on 235.9 points after recovering from a disappointing first jump.

His initial attempt ranked 16th overall before a total of 130.2 pushed him up the standings.

Kraft finished 1.8 points ahead of countryman Daniel Tschofenig to deny the 20-year-old his second World Cup podium.

The result means that Granerud extends his lead atop the overall season standings.

He currently has 1,838 points which gives him a substantial advantage over Poland's David Kubacki.

Kraft holds third place, meanwhile, on 1,338.

The Lillehammer leg was also part of the Raw Air competition, which began on March 10 in Oslo and is due to finish on March 19 in Vikersund.

The sixth edition of the event currently has Granerud leading Kraft by five points at the halfway stage, with nine jumps remaining.

The men's World Cup is due to continue on March 16 with athletes remaining in Lillehammer.