Chris Froome sits nine seconds off the pace after the opening team time-trial at Tirrreno-Adriatico, which was won by BMC Racing.
Froome and his Team Sky squad finished third in the 21.5km test in Lido di Camaiore, which kicked off the week-long warm-up race for the Giro d'Italia.
But there was more bad news for fellow Briton and former team-mate Mark Cavendish, who had to be taken to hospital after a fall in what was his first outing after another spill at the Abu Dhabi Tour last month.
Cavendish crossed the line some way after the rest of his team with obvious facial injuries and Team Dimension Data confirmed after the stage that he would need further checks in hospital.
His team would finish 18th, one minute and 16 seconds behind the two-time World Team Time-Trial champions, but Cavendish finished outside the time limit and will not continue in the race.
BMC Racing finished the pan-flat course in 22:19, with Damiano Caruso claiming the overall race lead after crossing the line first of their four-strong group - he was joined by Patrick Bevin, Rohan Dennis and Greg van Avermaet.
Mitchelton-Scott fill the next four places in the overall positions, with Luke Durbridge, Daryl Impey and Michael Hepburn joining Britain's Adam Yates in finishing four seconds behind.
Team Sky held the lead for a while with their time of 22:28, but eventually had to settle for third with Geraint Thomas and Jonathan Castroviejo also among their best performers.
The race continues on Thursday with a 167km ride from Camaiore to Follonica which is expected to end in a bunch sprint.