Fernandez and Zagotiva claim Grand Prix gold in Grenoble

The Spaniard, a two-time world champion, topped the overall Internationaux de France leader board with 283.71, ahead of Japanese skater Shoma Uno and Misha Ge of Uzbekistan.

Despite falling on a quad Salchow and triple Axel, the 26-year-old did enough to claim the gold, revealing he will be back in training immediately to fine tune aspects of his performance.

"There is a bigger improvement to do. We go back to training, work harder and try to do a better Free Program in the upcoming competitions," he said.

"It was a long day for me. We trained early, then we had to wait many hours until the night. I started well into the program but I hurt my hip a little on the first Axel.

"When the program goes down, you start to get tired and when you get tired, you make more mistakes."

World silver medallist Uno scored 273.32, while Ge's total of 258.34 was enough for bronze – his first Grand Prix medal of his career – before announcing his retirement at the end of this season.

In the ladies' competition, 15-year-old Russian Alina Zagitova put in a sterling display as her impressive senior-level debut season continues.

Zagitova clocked 213.80 overall, catapulting herself to the top of the podium from fifth the night before after a personal best free skating performance of 151.34 on Saturday.

Compatriot Maria Sotskova (208.78) took silver, while overnight leader, Canadian Kaetlyn Osmond, had to settle for bronze.

And there was more success for Russia in the pairs free skating, with European champions Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov securing their second Grand Prix gold of the season.

Their overall total of 218.20 was enough to see off the home challenge of Vanessa James and Morgan Cipres, who took silver with an effort of 214.32.

Italian pair Nicole Della Monica and Matteo Guarise claimed their first ever Grand Prix medal with bronze.

French fans did have a gold to cheer, however, as two-time world champions Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron won the ice dance free dancing with a personal best display of 120.58, taking their overall score to 201.98.

Their sumptuous display was enough to top the podium ahead of the United States pair of Madison Chock and Evan Bates, with the Russian team of Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin finishing third. Sportsbeat 2017