Image 1 of 44 Omega Pharma-Quickstep powers to the win in the opening TTT (Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti) Image 2 of 44 Fabian Cancellara wore his Swiss national champion kit during the TTT (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 3 of 44 Bradley Wiggins takes a strong pull on the front (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 4 of 44 MTN-Qhubeka was the first team down the ramp (Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti) Image 5 of 44 Lotto-Belisol was the last team on the road (Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti) Image 6 of 44 FDJ was reduced to six riders by the end (Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti) Image 7 of 44 Movistar posted the third fastest time (Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti) Image 8 of 44 Katusha finished far down the rankings (Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti) Image 9 of 44 Belkin rode into 9th overall (Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti) Image 10 of 44 Fabian Cancellara leads the Trek team to an 8th place finish (Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti) Image 11 of 44 Tinkoff-Saxo limted Contador's losses with a fourth place (Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti) Image 12 of 44 Fabian Cancellara motors at the head of the Trek train (Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti) Image 13 of 44 Team Sky in the Tirreno-Adriatico TTT (Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti) Image 14 of 44 Team Sky rode into sixth place (Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti) Image 15 of 44 AG2R La Mondiale finished 15th (Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti) Image 16 of 44 The French AG2R-La Mondiale team (Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti) Image 17 of 44 BMC in the Tirreno-Adriatico TTT (Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti) Image 18 of 44 Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) repeats as first race leader in Tirreno-Adriatico (Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti) Image 19 of 44 Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) in the blue jersey of overall leader of Tirreno-Adriatico. (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 20 of 44 Astana finished well down the classification (Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti) Image 21 of 44 Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) in the best young rider's jersey (Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti) Image 22 of 44 Omega Pharma-Quickstep celebrates its stage win (Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti) Image 23 of 44 BMC set the fastest early time, but fell to 11th by the end of the stage (Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti) Image 24 of 44 Belkin during the TTT (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com) Image 25 of 44 Belkin have Robert Gesink and Bauke Mollema as GC contenders. (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 26 of 44 Lotto-Belisol in formation at Tirreno-Adriatico. (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 27 of 44 Omega Pharma-QuickStep put in a hugely impressive team time trial effort. (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 28 of 44 Giant-Shimano in team time trial formation. (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 29 of 44 Bardiani-CSF on the road to San Vincenzo. (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 30 of 44 Omega Pharma-QuickStep toast team time trial victory. (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 31 of 44 Europcar had a low-key team time trial. (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 32 of 44 Omega Pharma-QuickStep celebrate victory at the Tirreno-Adriatico team time trial. (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 33 of 44 Lampre-Merida and Chris Horner were unable to make an impact in the team time trial. (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 34 of 44 FDJ.fr have brought Thibaut Pinot to Tirreno-Adriatico. (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 35 of 44 Astana in action at Tirreno-Adriatico. (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 36 of 44 Bernhard Eisel and Ian Stannard lead Team Sky. (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 37 of 44 Ag2r-La Mondiale in action at the Tirreno-Adriatico team time trial. (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 38 of 44 Ivan Basso and Peter Sagan helped Cannondale to 5th place on the stage. (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 39 of 44 Tinkoff-Saxo took 4th place on stage 1 of Tirreno-Adriatico. (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 40 of 44 Fabian Cancellara (left) and his Trek Factory Racing team in action at Tirreno-Adriatico. (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 41 of 44 NetApp-Endura in full flight during the Tirreno-Adriatico team time trial. (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 42 of 44 Movistar performed strongly to finish in third place. (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 43 of 44 BMC could only manage a disappointing 11th in the team time trial. (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 44 of 44 Omega Pharma-Quickstep storms to the win in the TTT of Tirreno-Adriatico (Image credit: Bettini Photo)

The Omega Pharma-Quickstep team extended its lead in its rivalry with Orica-GreenEdge in the team time trial, besting the Australian team by 11 seconds to take the opening victory in Tirreno-Adriatico.

Mark Cavendish led the squad across the line in 20:13 for the 18.5km test from Donoratico to San Vincenzo, and thereby becomes the first leader of Tirreno-Adriatico for the second consecutive year.

"You have to get everything perfect to win a team time trial and so it's always more rewarding when you pull it off and you get to stand on the podium together," Cavendish said.

It is the fifth time that Cavendish has led a major race after his team won an opening team time trial: before last year's Tirreno-Adriatico, he pulled on leader's jerseys in the Giro d'Italia twice (2009, 2011) and Vuelta a Espana (2010).

"It's good to start off with a win," Cavendish said. "It's going to build our morale. We want to do well in the sprints, we want to do well in the mountains stages and we want to do well in the GC too. We're ready. We'll cover all our bases and see what happens."

The victory of Omega Pharma was not simply a matter of taking the blue jersey - which they stand to hold the next two, largely flat stages - but also of putting distance between its GC leaders - Michal Kwiatkowski, who donned the best young rider's jersey, and Rigoberto Uran - and the rest of the overall contenders. The first mountain test on stage 4 will be crucial for the pair, and Kwiatkowski was happy to have a buffer.

"I'm thankful for my teammates, they gave their all," Kwiatkowski said after the finish. "I'm happy with the effort we did, it's amazing.

"Before Tirreno, I said we cannot win the race here, but we can lose some seconds. We gained some seconds before the mountain stages, which is important for the GC. I'm really happy. We want to enjoy it."

Movistar's Nairo Quintana is the closest to the Quickstep pair, only 18 seconds back, while Tinkoff-Saxo did well to limit Alberto Contador's losses to just 24 seconds.

Even Ivan Basso kept himself within shouting distance, his Cannondale team slotting in fifth at 26 seconds behind OPQS, while Team Sky was a hair's breadth further behind, leaving Richie Porte with 27 seconds to make up.

André Greipel will have to pull off something special to contend for the blue jersey in the sprints over the next two stages, as his Lotto Belisol finished off the pace in seventh, at 28 seconds.

Former Tirreno-Adriatico winner Cadel Evans was poorly supported by his BMC team, which finished 47 seconds off the pace, leaving him with quite a bit of catching up to do. Chris Horner (Lampre-Merida) fared even worse, and now sits at 53 seconds.

Full Results

# Rider Name (Country) Team Result 1 Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team 0:20:13 2 Orica Greenedge 0:00:11 3 Movistar 0:00:18 4 Tinkoff-Saxo 0:00:24 5 Cannondale 0:00:26 6 Team Sky 0:00:27 7 Lotto-Belisol 0:00:28 8 Trek Factory Racing 0:00:36 9 Belkin 0:00:37 10 FDJ.fr 0:00:43 11 BMC Racing Team 0:00:47 12 IAM Cycling 0:00:50 13 Lampre-Merida 0:00:53 14 NetApp-Endura 15 AG2R La Mondiale 16 Astana Pro Team 0:21:07 17 Giant-Shimano 0:21:08 18 Garmin-Sharp 0:21:17 19 Katusha 0:21:19 20 Bardiani-CSF 0:21:30 21 MTN-Qhubeka 0:21:32 22 Team Europcar 0:21:41

General classification after stage 1 # Rider Name (Country) Team Result 1 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team 0:20:13 2 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team 3 Rigoberto Uran Uran (Col) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team 4 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team 5 Wouter Poels (Ned) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team 6 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team 0:00:02 7 Tony Martin (Ger) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team 0:00:03 8 Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica Greenedge 0:00:11 9 Simon Clarke (Aus) Orica Greenedge 10 Luke Durbridge (Aus) Orica Greenedge 11 Svein Tuft (Can) Orica Greenedge 12 Michael Hepburn (Aus) Orica Greenedge 13 Ivan Santaromita (Ita) Orica Greenedge 14 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Orica Greenedge 15 Benat Intxausti Elorriaga (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:18 16 Adriano Malori (Ita) Movistar Team 17 Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolas (Spa) Movistar Team 18 Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas (Col) Movistar Team 19 Andrey Amador Bakkazakova (CRc) Movistar Team 20 Alex Dowsett (GBr) Movistar Team 21 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Movistar Team 22 Manuele Boaro (Ita) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:00:24 23 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Tinkoff-Saxo 24 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Tinkoff-Saxo 25 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Tinkoff-Saxo 26 Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Por) Tinkoff-Saxo 27 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Tinkoff-Saxo 28 Peter Sagan (Svk) Cannondale 0:00:26 29 Moreno Moser (Ita) Cannondale 30 Ivan Basso (Ita) Cannondale 31 Oscar Gatto (Ita) Cannondale 32 Kristijan Koren (Slo) Cannondale 33 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Cannondale 34 Alan Marangoni (Ita) Cannondale 35 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Team Sky 0:00:27 36 Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Team Sky 37 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Team Sky 38 Richie Porte (Aus) Team Sky 39 Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) Team Sky 40 Mikel Nieve Ituralde (Spa) Team Sky 41 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Lotto Belisol 0:00:28 42 Bart De Clercq (Bel) Lotto Belisol 43 André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Belisol 44 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Lotto Belisol 45 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Lotto Belisol 46 Ian Stannard (GBr) Team Sky 0:00:29 47 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Belisol 0:00:30 48 Markel Irizar Aranburu (Spa) Trek Factory Racing 0:00:36 49 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Trek Factory Racing 50 Julian David Arredondo Moreno (Col) Trek Factory Racing 51 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Trek Factory Racing 52 Jesse Sergent (NZl) Trek Factory Racing 53 Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Trek Factory Racing 54 Hayden Roulston (NZl) Trek Factory Racing 55 Jens Mouris (Ned) Orica Greenedge 0:00:37 56 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 57 Robert Gesink (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 58 Marc Goos (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 59 Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 60 Bram Tankink (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 61 Robert Wagner (Ger) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 62 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Trek Factory Racing 0:00:38 63 Mickael Delage (Fra) FDJ.fr 0:00:43 64 Arnaud Demare (Fra) FDJ.fr 65 Alexandre Geniez (Fra) FDJ.fr 66 Yoann Offredo (Fra) FDJ.fr 67 David Boucher (Fra) FDJ.fr 68 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ.fr 69 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:00:45 70 Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:00:47 71 Ben Hermans (Bel) BMC Racing Team 72 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC Racing Team 73 Steve Morabito (Swi) BMC Racing Team 74 Dominik Nerz (Ger) BMC Racing Team 75 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing Team 76 Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team 77 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 78 Martin Elmiger (Swi) IAM Cycling 0:00:50 79 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) IAM Cycling 80 Marcel Wyss (Swi) IAM Cycling 81 Dominic Klemme (Ger) IAM Cycling 82 Matthias Brandle (Aut) IAM Cycling 83 Roger Kluge (Ger) IAM Cycling 84 Heinrich Haussler (Aus) IAM Cycling 85 Davide Appollonio (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 0:00:53 86 Matteo Montaguti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 87 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 88 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 89 Lloyd Mondory (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 90 Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 91 Zakkari Dempster (Aus) Team NetApp - Endura 92 Sam Bennett (Irl) Team NetApp - Endura 93 Tiago Machado (Por) Team NetApp - Endura 94 David De La Cruz Melgarejo (Spa) Team NetApp - Endura 95 Iker Camano Ortuzar (Spa) Team NetApp - Endura 96 Paul Voss (Ger) Team NetApp - Endura 97 Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Team NetApp - Endura 98 Bartosz Huzarski (Pol) Team NetApp - Endura 99 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Lampre-Merida 100 Diego Ulissi (Ita) Lampre-Merida 101 Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre-Merida 102 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Merida 103 Christopher Horner (USA) Lampre-Merida 104 Maximiliano Richeze (Arg) Lampre-Merida 105 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team 0:00:54 106 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Astana Pro Team 107 Tanel Kangert (Est) Astana Pro Team 108 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 109 Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 110 Tom Veelers (Ned) Team Giant-Shimano 0:00:55 111 Marcel Kittel (Ger) Team Giant-Shimano 112 Simon Geschke (Ger) Team Giant-Shimano 113 Tobias Ludvigsson (Swe) Team Giant-Shimano 114 Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Giant-Shimano 115 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Giant-Shimano 116 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Astana Pro Team 0:00:56 117 Damien Gaudin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 118 Patrick Gretsch (Ger) AG2R La Mondiale 119 Sacha Modolo (Ita) Lampre-Merida 0:00:57 120 Benjamin King (USA) Garmin Sharp 0:01:04 121 Andrew Talansky (USA) Garmin Sharp 122 Jack Bauer (NZl) Garmin Sharp 123 Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin Sharp 124 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Garmin Sharp 125 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Garmin Sharp 126 Angel Vicioso Arcos (Spa) Team Katusha 0:01:06 127 Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Team Katusha 128 Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Team Katusha 129 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Team Katusha 130 Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Team Katusha 131 Maxim Belkov (Rus) Team Katusha 132 Dmitry Kozontchuk (Rus) Team Katusha 133 Luca Paolini (Ita) Team Katusha 134 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team 0:01:07 135 Thomas Leezer (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 0:01:11 136 Frederik Willems (Bel) Lotto Belisol 0:01:12 137 William Bonnet (Fra) FDJ.fr 0:01:16 138 Marco Coledan (Ita) Bardiani-CSF 0:01:17 139 Nicola Boem (Ita) Bardiani-CSF 140 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bardiani-CSF 141 Stefano Pirazzi (Ita) Bardiani-CSF 142 Marco Canola (Ita) Bardiani-CSF 143 Filippo Fortin (Ita) Bardiani-CSF 144 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Team Sky 145 Jaco Venter (RSA) MTN - Qhubeka 0:01:19 146 Jay Robert Thomson (RSA) MTN - Qhubeka 147 Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) MTN - Qhubeka 148 Sergio Pardilla Bellon (Spa) MTN - Qhubeka 149 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) MTN - Qhubeka 150 Daniel Teklehaimanot (Eri) MTN - Qhubeka 151 Ignatas Konovalovas (Ltu) MTN - Qhubeka 152 Nicola Ruffoni (Ita) Bardiani-CSF 153 David Millar (GBr) Garmin Sharp 0:01:25 154 Alexandre Pichot (Fra) Team Europcar 0:01:31 155 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Team Europcar 156 Bjorn Thurau (Ger) Team Europcar 157 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar 158 Davide Malacarne (Ita) Team Europcar 159 Romain Sicard (Fra) Team Europcar 160 Vincent Jerome (Fra) Team Europcar 161 Igor Anton Hernandez (Spa) Movistar Team 0:01:40 162 Tony Hurel (Fra) Team Europcar 0:01:54 163 Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team Giant-Shimano 0:01:57 164 Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 0:02:05 165 Davide Cimolai (Ita) Lampre-Merida 0:02:07 166 Michael Morkov (Den) Tinkoff-Saxo 0:02:12 167 Jens Debusschere (Bel) Lotto Belisol 0:02:13 168 Matteo Pelucchi (Ita) IAM Cycling 0:02:26 169 Dmitriy Gruzdev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:03:05 170 Paolo Longo Borghini (Ita) Cannondale 0:03:14 171 Enrico Battaglin (Ita) Bardiani-CSF 0:03:26 172 Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:03:28 173 Murilo Antonio Fischer (Bra) FDJ.fr 0:03:29 174 Andreas Stauff (Ger) MTN - Qhubeka 0:04:43 175 Tom Stamsnijder (Ned) Team Giant-Shimano 0:04:45 176 Johan Van Summeren (Bel) Garmin Sharp 0:05:29