World time trial champion Vasil Kiryienka was upstaged by one of his own teammates in his first test against the clock of 2016 at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, finishing 21 seconds down on Wout Poels in third.
Poels will wear the leader's jersey on stage two of the race, which returns after an eight-year hiatus, after a storming performance over the 16.25km course between Benicassim and Oropesa del Mar.
Chris Froome's trusted lieutenant at the 2015 Tour de France finished 15 seconds ahead of Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) in a star-studded field that was surprisingly light on time triallists.
Astana and Sky shared the first four spots, with Diego Rosa finishing a second behind Kiryienka in fourth, with Gazprom-Rusvelo's Artem Ovechkin the only non-WorldTour rider to break the top 15.
Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, stage one: Benicassim-Oropesa del Mar (16.25km)
1. Wout Poels (Ned) Team Sky, 22-34
2. Luis Leon Sanchez (Esp) Astana, at 15s
3. Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Sky, at 21s
4. Diego Rosa (Ita) Astana, at 22s
5. Jesus Herrada (Esp) Movistar, at 26s
6. Victor Campenaerts (Bel) LottoNL-Jumbo, at 27s
7. Bob Jungels (Lux) Etixx-Quick Step, st
8. Leopold Konig (Cze) Team Sky, at 29s
9. Reto Hollenstein (Swi) IAM Cycling, at 30s
10. Imanol Erviti (Esp) Movistar, at 30
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