Wiggins makes perfect start at Tour of Qatar

BRADLEY Wiggins made the perfect start to his Team Sky career, guiding the British outfit to victory in the opening team time trial of the Tour of Qatar.

PERFECT START: Team Sky take victory in the team time trial at the Tour of Qatar as Bradley Wiggins makes his debut for his new team (Getty Images)

Wiggins, a three-time Olympic track gold medallist, was one of seven members of the eight-man squad, marshaled by British Cycling performance director Dave Brailsford, making their Team Sky debuts in the Gulf state.

They recorded a time of 9:41 minutes on the 8.2km circuit to take victory by eight seconds as Team Sky continued their impressive start to life in the pro-cycling ranks.

Garmin-Transitions - last year's winners of the opening stage - and the Cervelo TestTeam both clocked 9:49.

Team Sky's victory ensures Norwegian Edvald Boasson Hagen will wear the leader's jersey on Monday' stage two, having crossed the line first.

Kurt-Asle Arvesen, Russell Downing, Juan Antonio Flecha, Lars-Peter Nordhaug, Ian Stannard and Geraint Thomas were the other six members in action for Team Sky.

The British outfit made an impressive start to the season at the Tour Down Under last month, with Chris Sutton taking victory in the final stage and Greg Henderson winning the criterium ahead of the six-day race.