Team Sky had a significant handicap in today's opening team time trial at the Giro del Trentino as they were down to just 6 riders right from the start of the race. With powerhouses like Bradley Wiggins, Kanstantsin Siutsou and Dario Cataldo, they did well to take third and are now hopeful that Cataldo and Siutsou will produce a solid performance in the GC battle.

Team Sky clocked the third fastest time in the opening team time trial at the Giro del Trentino.
 

Despite being forced to start the race with six out of a possible eight riders, the squad of Ian Boswell, Dario Cataldo, Philip Deignan, Salvatore Puccio, Kanstantsin Siutsou and Sir Bradley Wiggins stopped the clock with a time of 14 minutes and 21 seconds in Arco.

Wiggins led the unit across the line as the team laid down a benchmark time for their rivals to chase.

In the end it was BMC Racing who pulled off the quickest time on the pan-flat 14.3-kilometre course, winning the stage by an impressive 15 seconds to place Daniel Oss into the leader's jersey.

Team NetApp-Endura took second on the day, edging out Team Sky by four seconds during a hard-fought stage.

Movistar and Cannondale rounded out the top five, 22 and 23 seconds respectively behind BMC and lead GC contender Cadel Evans.

The action continues on Wednesday with stage two and a summit finish at San Giacomo di Brentonico.

“It was fast, really fast,” admitted Philip Deignan after the stage.

“We only had six guys but as a unit everybody rode really strongly. It was a bit of a shock to the system for me as I haven’t raced much this year. I had a good two weeks at home training but you can’t replicate this sort of thing.

“It was quite a technical course but most of the corners were quite fast and you didn’t have to brake for many of them. Luckily it stayed dry too as the rain was threatening a bit just as we were warming up.”

Sports Director Dario Cioni also praised the effort of the team as they pulled together to deliver a strong performance.

“We knew it would be an interesting stage starting with a limited number of riders," he admitted. "But there was no doubting the quality of the team we do have here. There were a few small mistakes but when you go full gas in a TTT that is sometimes what happens. The guys had a really good ride, especially in the second half.

“Even though there were just six of them they didn’t lose time to any other team. So that was impressive and it means they have a good condition. We have Philip in there who is still returning from a long break following injury. We knew Brad was on form after Roubaix. We had Cataldo and Kosta coming down from a training camp at altitude, so maybe they didn’t have the ideal run-in to the race.”

Attention now turns to the climbs, with Cioni believing that the team have plenty of options heading deeper into the race.

“Being in third puts us in a really good position tactically,” he added. “On paper tomorrow should be the easiest of the three mountain stages. It will be about seeing where everyone is. Cataldo and Kosta have the chance to ride for GC, while for Brad it’s an important training block as he builds towards California. It’s the first climbing he’s done since the Classics so he’ll see how he feels on the day.”