With Geraint Thomas and Edvald Boasson Hagen as potential overall winners, Team Sky featured prominently in today's first stage of the Eneco Tour when the team tried to split the peloton in the crosswinds. In the end, their mission failed and their plan to ride for Edvald Boasson Hagen in the finale also came to nothing as the Norwegian was not feeling good.

Team Sky were active during a sketchy opening stage of the Eneco Tour but unable to get in the mix as Andrea Guardini romped a last-gasp victory.

Luke Rowe, Ian Stannard and Geraint Thomas temporarily split the peloton when they put the hammer down in the last 40km, and Christian Knees was also prominent in a number of late moves before the action came down to a chaotic finale.

The strong winds, wet roads and heavy road furniture claimed a several casualties on the technical run in to Terneuzen, and Tom Doumolin looked to have stolen a march on the bunch when he jumped clear in the last kilometre.

The Giant-Shimano rider built a sizable gap as he forged onwards, but a block headwind on the finishing straight scuppered his chances and Guardini (Astana) reeled him in just seconds before he celebrated his victory over Yohann Gene (Europcar) and Davide Cimolai (Lampre Merida).

Chris Sutton was the first Team Sky rider home in 32nd position, missing out on the top spots with a whole host of big-name sprinters such as Andre Greipel (Lotto Belisol), Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ) and Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma – Quick-Step).

Back at the hotel, Sports Director Nicolas Portal was pleased to report a clean bill of health, but admitted things hadn't run to plan on a tough opening day.

"It was a hard day for everyone out there. The sprinters' teams couldn't get organised with all the winds and the crashes, and we tried to break things up when we hit a straight exposed section with around 40km to go. That move didn't work out but I was pleased to see the guys try.

"Our plan had been to ride for Edvald [Boasson Hagen] at the end, but he wasn't feeling 100% so he sacrificed himself for Luke and CJ [Sutton] instead. Luke crashed on a slippery roundabout though, which put him out of contention, and then CJ was left on his own in the final.

"Luke's fine, and he'll be good to go again tomorrow. That should be another sprint stage, and possibly even more tricky than what we saw today. The roads are narrow and full of obstacles, and while it should make for exciting viewing, it'll be another stressful stage in the peloton."