Mark Cavendish leads from the front in Giro D'Italia opening stage
Mark Cavendish's HTC-Highroad team won the first stage of the Giro d'Italia after finishing 10 seconds ahead of Radioshack in the team time trial.
Marco Pinotti took the leader's pink jersey when he led the team home in the 19.3-kilometer (11.9-mile) ride from Venaria Reale to Turin in a time of 19 minutes, 59 seconds.
'I'm delighted to have done this for the team,' Pinotti said.
![Fizzing into form: Mark Cavendish celebrates the stage win](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/05/07/article-0-0BF3749E00000578-473_468x357.jpg)
Fizzing into form: Mark Cavendish celebrates the stage win
'We are an excellent team and weren't bothered about being made the favourite as we just used straightforward tactics. We had a plan and were able to execute it.'
With renowned sprinter Mark Cavendish also in the line-up, HTC was favoured to take the stage and the riders didn't disappoint with Cavendish leading the team off the last corner before Pinotti took over.
The time knocked early leader Omega Pharma-Lotto from top spot, and the win was confirmed when chief rival Radiobank failed to improve on the result. Vincenzo Nibali's Liquigas-Cannondale team was third, 22 seconds behind the winner, and Alberto Contador's Saxo Bank team finished eighth, 30 seconds behind HTC-Highroad.
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