The opening stage in Sicily featured a 15.1-kilometre individual time trial from Monreale to Palermo, with Ganna wearing the rainbow jersey for the first time as the world champion in the discipline.

One week on from his World Championships success, Ganna proved too strong again for his rivals as the Ineos Grenadiers rider completed the course in a time of 15min and 24sec.

The Italian star finished 22 seconds quicker than his nearest rival Joao Almeida of Portugal.

Denmark’s Mikkel Bjerg placed third on the stage on the same time as Almeida.

"Today I knew was one of the hot favourites but I tried to stay calm," said Ganna.

"We did it, what a great result and what a thrill to wear the Maglia Rosa on my first Giro.

"It is a good omen for the rest of the race."

Ganna will support team mate Geraint Thomas’ bid to win the Giro d’Italia and the British rider made an impressive start to the three-week race.

Thomas finished fourth on the stage by ending 23 seconds off Ganna’s pace.

The 2018 Tour de France winner gained time on all his rivals, with fellow Briton Simon Yates closest by limiting his losses to 25 seconds.

Two-time Giro d’Italia winner Vincenzo Nibali lost 1:05 to Thomas.

Steven Kruijswijk of the Netherlands and Denmark’s Jakob Fuglsang have to overturn deficits of 1:21 and 1:24, respectively.

The time trial course was criticised by several riders, who labelled it "dangerous".

Colombia’s Miguel Angel Lopez, a potential contender for the general classification, crashed out of the race.

The Astana rider had attempted to reposition himself on his bike but hit a bump in the road which sent him into the barriers at high speed.

"Miguel Angel has been taken to hospital for further observation," an Astana statement read.

"We will update you as soon as we know more."

Belgium’s Victor Campenaerts, one of the favourites for the time trial victory, crashed on the course but finished the stage.

Campenaerts criticised the uneven road surface, which he also said should have been cleaned of oil.

Racing will continue tomorrow with the second stage, a 150km route from Alcamo to Agrigento.

Sicily is hosting the opening four stages of the race after stepping in to replace Budapest, which was forced to withdraw due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The race had initially been scheduled to begin in May.