Stage one of the prestigious Giro d'Italia is in the books, and the Bay Area was very well represented in the 8.7km prologue in Herning. Taylor Phinney, one of the favorites heading into the event, finished at the very top, nine seconds ahead of second place Geraint Thomas. Phinney represents the BMC Racing Team in Santa Rosa.
Alex Rasmussen grabbed the third spot 13 seconds back of Phinney at 10:39, Manuele Boaro grabbed fourth and Erik Gustav Larsson rounded out the top five. BMC was further well-represented by Marco Pinotti of Italy, who finished No. 8 at 10:50. Alessandro Ballan had a great run, but ran a red light and suffered for it, falling down to No. 34 with a time of 11:05.
Thor Hushovd, who was expected to do very well, finished at No. 67 with a time of 11:15. Mathias Frank finished at No. 97, Danilo Wyss at No. 141, Mauro Santambrogio at No. 155, Johann Tschopp at No. 171 and Ivan Santaromita finished at the bottom for the team, down at No. 186.
It was a more technical first stage than usual, but most of the turns and such came near the end, with most riders finishing off on a high note. All-in-all, it was a big win for the time trial experts, with the sprinters being just outside their comfort zone for a race at 11 minutes.
You can check out the full results here and don't forget to check out Podium Cafe, SB Nation's cycling blog.