Mark Cavendish secured the leader's jersey by crossing the line first in OmegaPharma-QuickStep's dominant victory in today's opening team time trial in Tirreno-Adriatico. Afterwards he insisted that his personal glory was the result of a team effort - and the presence of a TT world champion.

With its victory in the inaugural world team time trial championships last year, OmegaPharma-QuickStep entered today's team event in Tirreno-Adriatico as the main favorite. With a dominant performance they covered the 16,9 km course 11 seconds faster than Movistar and 16 seconds fast than pre-race main rival BMC.

As the first man to cross the line Mark Cavendish gets to wear his third overall leader's jersey this year after already being in command in the Tours of San Luis and Qatar. Even if he was once again the center of attention, he was adamant that his personal contribution to the victory was not the main reason for the success.

"One name is a huge reason why we did so well today: Tony Martin," Cavendish told. "He did the majority of the work, but the guys today, all of them, were just incredible. As for the planning, we did a lot of it but we didn't too much pressure on it. It was actually quite relaxing. Everyone knew what they had to do. We finished with five but everyone had a part to play. Maybe that's what makes us so good, because no one has a real ego except maybe me."

Cavendish is used to being part of TTT winning squads as the now defunct HTC-Highroad was one of the leading teams in the discipline. The Manxman has always held team victories higher than personal glory, and he used the opportunity to repeat this stand.

"For everybody, it's about getting eight guys from point A to point B as fast as possible," he explained. "I'm super proud to be a part of it. For me, when there's a team time trial win, it's one of the nicest things in cycling. The whole team gets to celebrate. That's what makes this event special."

Praise also for Steegmans

OmegaPharma-QuickStep ended up with just the required 5 riders at the finish line. Along the way, Guillaume Van Keirsbulck, Geert Steegmans and Martin Velits all had to let the group go, and so only Zdenek Stybar, Niki Terpstra, Michal Kwiatkowski, Martin and Cavendish were left at the finish.

Cavendish was, however, adamant that this should not be misinterpreted.

"It is quite a misconception to think that the five that crossed the finish line are the five strongest," Cavendish said. "It doesn't work like that. For example at the top of the climb it was difficult. Tony went away. It could have been easy for Gert Steegmans to go with Tony, but instead he waited and brought the rest of the team back to Tony. That finished Gert, you know. So maybe he did one of the best rides of the team today, but he's not there in the top five. So I think it's got nothing to do with being in the top five when it comes to your condition. It really depends on where you are or the circumstances."

The joy is back

Cavendish had a difficult year last year at Team Sky. The team's focus on GC ambitions meant that his quest for personal success had to step into the background - something which was evident in the Tour de France where he received very little help in the sprints.

In a number of interviews, the former world champion has told how the difficult circumstances left with no joy in his profession. With today's TTT win, he pointed out that this has all changed.

"I'm really enjoying riding my bike again," he explained. "I don't know if it's the past or the fact that this team is just so nice, but I am just really, really happy. I found a new motivation again. This is my 7th or 8th year as a professional, but whatever happened this year I have newfound love again. It's just really refreshing to be part of a team where I've got so many friends with whom I grew up in the past, and now I'm having so much fun.

The team atmosphere makes up for his personal deprivations.

"This is the most I've raced at this time of the year, and I've got a daughter and fiancee at home. It's really hard to be this far away for so long, but when you've got a good group of people like I am with, I couldn't ask for anything more."

Martin: I had to take responsibility

World TT champion Tony Martin has expressed his desire to go for a good overall result in Tirreno-Adriatico. Today's victory gave him and fellow OmegaPharma-QuickStep GC contender Michal Kwiatkowski the perfect start.

The German knew that he had to be at his best if the team was to win.

"It was not easy today," Martin told after the race. "We knew we were one of the big favorites, but it is always difficult on this kind of short distance, but also with some rain and some corners. You always have to take some risks in these kinds of races. I think the whole team found a good way to handle this pressure. I knew I am one of the strongest so I knew I had to take some of the responsibility. But I had a good feeling, good legs, so I could really give everything."

Martin is, however, expected to remain in the background when the race continues with a mammoth 232 km stage tomorrow. With a almost completely flat profile, the stage is expected to end in a bunch sprint, and so we should be in for the first big battle between Cavendish and main rival Andre Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) this season.