Taylor Phinney (BMC Racing) produced a storming ride to win the opening stage of the Giro d’Italia in Herning, Denmark, and claim his first Grand Tour victory. Here’s how it happened.

Phinney clocked 10:26 minutes over the 8.7km course to step into the maglia rosa.

World road race champion Mark Cavendish, out of his rainbow jersey and back in regular Team Sky colours for the time trial, finished 60th.

Defending champion Michele Scarponi lost more than a minute in 135th.

Geraint Thomas, who won the prologue at the Tour de Romandie, was forced to settle for second in Denmark, nine seconds adrift of Phinney.

Rigoberto Uran will lead Sky’s charge in the general classification. The Colombian finished 56th on stage one, 46 seconds off the pace.

Frank Schleck was a late addition to Radioshack-Nissan-Trek’s squad. The Luxembourg rider rode to 108th, 59 seconds behind Phinney.

Ryder Hesjedal will fly the flag for Garmin-Barracuda and the Canadian started the race strongly, finishing 17th in +29″.

There was no chance of missing Filippo Pozzato in his bright green Farnese Vini-Selle Italia skinsuit. The Tour of Flanders runner-up finished 20th in Herning.

Phinney is a two-time individual pursuit world champion on the track and the 21-year-old has long been touted as one of the biggest talents in the peloton.

Expect to see this scene repeated many times over the course of Phinney’s career.