Team Sky got their Giro d'Italia campaign off to a solid start in San Remo after securing ninth place in the opening team time trial.

The team clocked a time of 19 minutes and 53 seconds across a fast 17.6-kilometre course on the Ligurian coast, placing Richie Porte in the mix among his fellow GC contenders.

Early honours went to Orica-GreenEdge who replicated their success of 12 months earlier, putting Simon Gerrans into an early maglia rosa.

Team Sky set a competitive time at the intermediate split before crossing the line with eight riders, 27 seconds back on the Australian outfit.

Tinkoff-Saxo and Astana rounded out the podium positions, seven and 13 seconds back respectively on a course which hugged the coastal bike path from San Lorenzo al Mare.

After the stage Porte admitted that, while early time loss is not ideal, it's the high mountains later in the three-week race where the real time will be won and lost.

"I think we were good today. Everyone was smooth and solid. We did a good job," said the Tasmanian.

"The race is not going to be won today. At the end of the day it's seconds now but it's going to be minutes in the end. You can get carried away during the whole first week about losing seconds. It's not ideal to lose time but it's not the end of the world.

"It's nice to just get the race started. Coming in here I feel fresh and ready to keep fighting."

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