Team Sky's Geraint Thomas finished second as Taylor Phinney won the Giro D'Italia Time Trial today as the first grand tour race of the season got underway.
This year, Herning in Denmark, was the venue for the first stage and after Lampre's Michele Scarponi had been handed last year's win after Alberto Contador was stripped off the title, Jackson Rodriguez of the Androni Giocattoli team, was the first man down the ramp for this 8.7km time trial, which has seventeen turns.
The Venezuelan set a time of 11.58 on a very windy day. However, of the early riders, it was Team Sky's Bernie Eisel who set the fastest time of 11:12 before Robbie Hunter went through in 10.54 and then Garmin's Ramunas Navardauskas, who was 35th off the ramp, flew home six seconds quicker.
Last year, Woulter Weylandt was killed in the race and as a mark of respect, Team Orica-GreenEdge were wearing numbers 100 to 107 and 109 with the number 108 retired in memory of late Belgian rider.
World Champion Mark Cavendish (pictured below) who is tipped to win a number of stages, went down the ramp at 16.55 UK time, and worked hard to finish in a respectable time of 11.13 after Brett Lancaster has got into a second of Navardauskas' time.
Cavendish's team-mate Ian Stannard also rode well to come in some 21 seconds down on Navardauskas.
One man capable of winning the stage today was Geraint Thomas who won the Tour Of Romandy prologue. Thomas set the fastest time at the intermediate sprint.whilst Manuele Boaro of Saxo Bank set the new fastest time with a time of 10.41.
However, Thomas (pictured below) kept going and smashed that by six seconds.
That time looked unbeatable but BMC's Taylor Phinney was in brilliant form and came home with an unbelieveable time of 10.26.
Nobody else could get anywhere near that and Taylot Phinney will start tomorrow's 206km long stage which starts and finishes in Herning in the leaders pink jersey.
Pictures copyright of Covsupport News Service. Credit CNS/KM