Astana cruised to the win in the Giro del Trentino team time trial, giving leader Vincenzo Nibali a 14-second advantage over his rivals in the general classification.
The Kazakh team crossed the line in Torbole in 13-30, at an average speed of over 53kph over the 12.1km route.
Team Sky and Ag2r La Mondiale could only both manage times of 13-44, leaving the three WorldTour teams in the race as the fastest three finishers.
With three mountainous stages to come, including a summit finish in Anras on Wednesday, Sky’s Mikel Landa and Ag2r duo of Romain Bardet and Domenico Pozzovivo have some catching up to do to reel back Nibali.
British youngster Hugh Carthy finished 54-seconds down on Astana with his Caja Rural teammates in 13th place.
Giro del Trentino stage one, Riva – Torbole (12.1km TTT)
1. Astana (Kaz), 13-30
2. Team Sky (GBr), at 14s
3. Ag2r La Mondiale (Fra), st
4. Bora-Argon 18 (Ger), at 16s
5. Gazprom-RusVelo (Rus), at 21s
6. Bardiani-CSF (Ita), at 34s
7. Nippo-Vini Fantini (Ita), st
8. Southeast-Venezuela (Ita) at 35s
9. Androni Giacattoli-Sidermec (Ita), at 36s
10. Italy (Ita), at 44s
