Team Sky got revenge for their failure in the morning's half-stage with a convincing victory in the afternoon's time trial. The team acknowledges that the overall victory may be taken by one of the morning's breakaway riders but are happy to see the squad perform well just weeks ahead of the major target at the Giro d'Italia.

Bradley Wiggins and the other pre-race favourites at the Giro d'Italia may very well have lost all their chances of overall victory in the Giro del Trentino when they let a breakaway group containing strong riders like Maxime Bouet (Ag2r) and Michael Rodriguez (Colombia) get to the finish almost 7 minutes ahead of the peloton in the morning's opening half-stage. Both are renowned climbers and it will be a hard task to take back all that time in the mountains.

The first opportunity to reduce their deficit occurred in the afternoon's team time trial, and Team Sky made sure to make most of it as they crushed the opposition and took the victory ahead of Astana and Lampre. Taking back 1.05 on Bouet, the situation is now a little bit more manageable.

The race is, however, mostly preparation for the Giro and the team's main focus after the victory was the importance of the performance in view of the major target.

“Today was a really nice result for the team," Kanstantsin Siutsou said. "There was no stress. We felt good before the start and we knew what we needed to do. For preparation ahead of the Giro it is important. I’m happy that I could do my best today, as did everyone, and we worked together perfectly. I’m really happy that we could produce a performance like this and it is great for morale."

Most of the riders in Trentino will also be at Wiggins' side in the Giro and they have just returned to the European mainland after a training camp. Tomorrow they will get their first real gauge of the benefit of the hard preparation when they will take on a mammoth 224km stage with a summit finish.

“We’ve just got back from Tenerife so we will see how we get on in the mountains," Siutsou said. "The form is coming and I think it will continue to improve here in Trentino and then obviously we need to be ready at the Giro to help Bradley. The most important thing here is that we work together well as a team. Making sure every element of the team is looked at like we did today in the team time trial. Tomorrow it is on to the climbs and that will help us to see how we work in and around the big teams and the guys like Nibali, Basso and Evans.”

Ljungqvist happy to see Wiggins improve

Sports director Marcus Ljungqvist also kept a firm eye on the major target and he was happy to see Wiggins improving his condition.

"That was a really good ride and I think the victory was needed," he said. "Winning a team time trial is great for the morale and that's what we need coming a few weeks before the Giro. It's always nice to go up on the podium together and enjoy the victory."

"Tomorrow is going to be a tough day with some tough climbs and a mountain top finish so we'll see some GC contenders get into the mix. Bradley is getting better and better and this will have been good for his confidence. He's on track for the Giro, and for these hard stages to come."

The GC is a possible bonus

Many were surprised that the mighty Sky team did not take on the responsibility to keep the break in check in the morning stage. Ljungqvist explained the lack of initiative had two reasons: first of all the team wanted to keep its powder dry for the team time trial and secondly the GC will just be a possible bonus in a race that has always been meant as preparation.

“A lot of teams were looking at us and the bigger GC teams," he revealed. "It’s no secret that we are here to prepare for the Giro and if the GC comes along as a result then that’s perfect. A lot of teams have the same idea. I don’t think a lot of teams wanted to go too deep chasing the move ahead of this afternoon."

“Vini Fantini took it up along with another couple of teams and we also helped out with the chase," he added. "Not many teams showed any interest in chasing that group. There’s still a long way to go on the GC but it might be that the winner of the race comes from that group."

Starting at 13.15, you can follow tomorrow's big mountain stage on CyclingQuotes.com/live.