The seven-day Italian stage race was kicked off with a 10-kilometre flat time trial in rainy Lido di Camaiore. There, Team Visma | Lease a Bike used the new innovative Aerohead II helmets from equipment partner Giro for the first time.

Vingegaard was one of the first to leave the start ramp in the coastal town. The 27-year-old Dane, who already showed his good form with stage wins and overall victory in O Gran Camiño two weeks ago, managed to set a good time straight away. In the end, Vingegaard finished ninth, 22 seconds behind stage winner Ayuso.

"I am quite satisfied with the time trial I rode today," he responded afterwards. "The feeling was already good. There are still many stages to come where a lot can happen. I'm really looking forward to that."

Sports director Grischa Niermann looks back on his leader's time trial. "We knew the course would not be ideal for Jonas. On a flat and short course like this, he was therefore not able to use his strengths optimally. In hindsight, a place in the top ten is a fine result. We had calculated a smaller gap to Juan Ayuso beforehand, but Jonas proved the second fastest classification rider. He's still in a good position in view of what lies ahead in the next few days."