Belgian time trial specialist Victor Kampenaerts (NTT Pro Cycling) blasted the opening individual time trial of the Giro d'Italia as "very dangerous."

Campenaerts, who finished third in the opening prologue in Jerusalem two years ago, crashed on the first of two hairpins.

Kampenaerts, who started fourth, like many of the riders who started earlier in the day, was buffeted by strong winds that gusted out of control. However, the Belgian rider said the main problem was that the organizers failed to clean the road surface and that there were many "bumps" on the uneven surface.

"It's very dangerous. The road is full of oil," said Kampenaerts, who was bleeding from his right leg and slumped against the barriers at the finish.

"It's just like the roads in Mallorca.

Comparing the course to the surface at the World Championships in Italy, where he won a bronze medal last week, Campaneltes said: "Looking at the surface in Imola, there was a new surface on the time trial and on all the pulses of the road race course. In Imola, there was a new surface on all the pals courses for both the time trial and the road race.

The former European and Belgian time trial champion said he was confident that he was not going too fast into the corner where he crashed.

Campenaerts even admitted that he was glad he did not flat out in the final part of the race. He was even glad he did not flat out on the final part, because the "bumpy" surface, especially after the hairpin turn where he crashed, was too risky to take the risk. He even feared that a crash on such a course could have cost the riders the Giro, or even their careers.

"It was almost like an off-road course, going 80 km/h, full of bumps and crosswinds. I don't think any rider could be happy with this course and of course I am not happy with the result.

"Compared to Holland, the surface in Holland is made for wet conditions. Of course, it doesn't rain as much here, but if you are going to hold a race and want 100 km/h speeds, you need the track surface to be clean."

"I am not happy with the results.

Most of the riders who departed late in the race were able to enjoy the less windy conditions, but former two-time world time trial champion Rohan Dennis (Ineos Grenadiers) insisted that he was confident that "even without the wind, the final result would have been the same."

Dennis, who was the 60th of 176 starters but fell short of expectations, said he did not want to push his luck with time remaining in the Giro.

"I felt very good at the beginning," Dennis told Eurosport. 'But once we got down to that long straight, it was so unpredictable that the bike got stuck a couple of times and I had to stop pedaling because I almost hit a fence across the road.'

"But from there it wasn't dangerous, I was just thinking about the 21 stages, and I was thinking about the way we're going to go, and how we're going to get to the end of the race.

While Dennis was taking the long view, Campenaerts was unable to put things in perspective.

Asked if he could at least be happy that the Giro would be held, given Italy's early struggles with the coronavirus outbreak this spring, Campenaerts said it was a nice perspective. But, he added, "If they come to take the pink jersey and fall off, I'm not happy about being in the Giro at this point."

"Maybe tomorrow morning. But if I can be satisfied with what I'm doing now, I don't think I'm a professional."