Team Sky put down a real marker with a stunning performance to win the opening team time trial by eight seconds at the Tour of Qatar.

It was the perfect start from the eight-man squad, seven of whom were making their debuts for the team.

They included Bradley Wiggins and Edvald Boasson Hagen and the latter will wear the leader's jersey in Monday's second stage after he crossed the line first.

Team Sky recorded a time of nine minutes and 41 seconds on the 8.2km circuit around West Bay Lagoon to finish well ahead of their rivals.

They handled changing wind conditions superbly to clock up an average speed of over 50km/h.

Garmin-Transitions, last year's winners of the opening stage, after which Wiggins wore the leader's jersey, came second in 9:49. The Cervelo Test Team were originally credited with the same time but were penalised a minute for what race organisers deemed "unauthorised pushing among the riders".

Kurt-Asle Arvesen, Russell Downing, Juan Antonio Flecha, Lars-Peter Nordhaug, Ian Stannard and Geraint Thomas were the other six riders in a hugely impressive opening effort from Team Sky.

Flecha will wear the silver points jersey on Monday while Thomas is set to sport the blue jersey for the best young rider.

It will be Boasson Hagen in the gold jersey and he was quick to put that down to teamwork, saying: "The team worked so well together and it's nice to get off to such a good start, it's amazing.

"I think the whole team are in good condition and hopefully it's going to be a good week. It's going to be hard in the wind but it's good to have the lead and we'll see what happens."

Planning pays off

Senior Sports Director Scott Sunderland was understandably delighted after seeing his charges power to victory, telling TeamSky.com: "I knew that if we did everything right technically then we'd go really close and that's how it turned out. It's a great start.

"Every little detail was covered - from the warming up, examining the wind conditions, scouting the course and looking how we would handle different corners and roundabouts - basically all the different technical parts which make a difference.

"We also spent a lot of time discussing the order of the riders and it then all comes down to the physical aspect so it was great that we had enough horsepower. Every single rider - not just the stronger ones - played their part and it was fantastic to see," added Sunderland.

Tribute

However the day was also clouded in sadness after news came through of the death of former cyclist and Italian cycling team head coach Franco Ballerini.

He died on Sunday morning after an accident in a rally in Larciano, Tuscany.

The 45-year-old Ballerini was a former two-time Paris-Roubaix winner and also claimed the Paris-Brussels race in 1990.

He had been Italy's head coach since 2001 and during his time in charge had led the team to one Olympic gold and four world titles.

And Team Sky's riders were quick to pay tribute, Wiggins putting things into perspective when he said the victory "had been overshadowed by the death of a great champion".