Boels-Dolmans riders made a winning start to the 28th women's Giro D'Italia ©Getty Images

The Boels-Dolmans team, who dominated last year’s Giro d’Italia women's race, picked up where it left off today as it won the opening stage team time trial in Aquileia.

The Dutch-registered team’s line-up for this prestigious 10-stage race, one of the premier events on the International Cycling Union Women’s WorldTour and popularly known as the Giro Rosa, includes defending individual champion Megan Guarnier, the United States rider.

Boels-Dolmans were the last team to start and the only outfit to break the 15 minute barrier.

Karol-Ann Canuel, recent winner of the Canadian time trial, led her team-mates across the finish with a time of 14min 47sec and will wear the 28th edition of the Giro Rosa’s first maglia rosa tomorrow.

"We talked about it beforehand, and everyone said they were okay with me crossing the line first," Canuel told Cyclingnews. 

"It was really special to pull on the pink jersey."

The special moment, though, was compounded by unnecessary last-minute stress.

Canuel flew to Italy via Air Canada on Tuesday (June 27), four hours after winning her second Canadian time trial title but she landed the following morning without her time trial bike.

Karol-Ann Canuel, pictured competing for Canada in the Rio 2016 time trial, led her Boels-Dolmans team to victory ©Getty Images
Karol-Ann Canuel, pictured competing for Canada in the Rio 2016 time trial, led her Boels-Dolmans team to victory ©Getty Images

For two days, no-one could tell her where her Specialized Shiv was and when she might be reunited with it.

"That was really stressful," she said.

"It wasn't until today that it showed up."

Boels-Dolmans won a gold medal in the team time trial at the UCI Road World Championships last October, capping off a season that included a win in every collective race against the clock.

The squad also won the Healthy Ageing Tour team time trial in April, the only team trial they have raced this season.

Team Sunweb proved best of the rest, stopping the clock at 15:03, 16 seconds slower than Boels-Dolmans.

Other riders in the mix for a race that may be more open this year after several of the more intensive climbs have been dropped include former winner Anna van der Breggen of The Netherlands, riding for the Rabo Liv team, and Britain’s Lizzie Deignan, the 2015 world road race champion.

Further potential rivals for the overall title include Elisa Longo Borghini, Katarzyna Niewiadoma, Annemiek van Vleuten, Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio and Arlenis Sierra.

The many stages catering to the fast finishers have drawn top sprinting talent as well, with Chloe Hosking and Coryn Rivera among those likely to battle for stage victories.

Racing is due to continue tomorrow with a 76 mile route from Zoppola to Montereale Valcellina.