Strong winds blowing off the coast of Cagliari affected the time trial for the opening round of the Giro d'Italia Donne. With the weather forecast predicting stronger winds as the day wore on, many teams opted to send their protected GC riders to the slopes early.

Track rider and time trial specialist Georgia Baker (Team Bike Exchange-Jayco) was 16th to start the 4.7 km course.

Pre-race favorite Annemiek van Fruten (Movistar) was also first to finish, as were her Italian Trek-Segafredo teammates Elisa Longo Borghini and Elisa Balsamo. Freshly crowned Dutch national champion Liegenne Marx, Trek-Segafredo's Lucinda Brand, and U.S. national champion Leah Thomas were also within the first 100, all finishing in the top 10.

With the exception of Lotte Kopecky (Team SD Works), no other athlete who started after 14:17 local time made the top 10.

A live shot of the coastline showed trees and bushes being buffeted by strong gusts of wind, and athletes heading to the finish line could be seen fighting a very strong crosswind.

However, despite the windy conditions, none of the pre-race GC contenders lost much time to their rivals on the short time trial course, and the overall battle entered Friday's 106.5 km rolling stage from Villasimius to Tortoli The overall battle went into Friday's 106.5km rolling stage from Villasimius to Tortoli.