The rebrand from Team Sky to Team Ineos did nothing to change their luck in Tour de France team time trials but another podium finish without victory at least saw Geraint Thomas and Egan Bernal pick up significant chunks of time on their rivals for the yellow jersey.
Scroll down for full stage-by-stage guide & odds
Ineos were first off the ramp for Sunday's 27.6km run around Brussels and sat in the hot seat for almost two hours before watching the final team to start, Jumbo-Visma, take 20 seconds off their time of 29 minutes 18 seconds to keep Saturday's shock stage winner Mike Teunissen in yellow.
It was the fifth time that the team known as Team Sky until Sir Jim Radcliffe's buyout in May have finished in the top three of a team time trial at the Tour, but victory continues to elude them.
⏱️🏁 28'57" ✅@Team_JumboVisma win the team time trial and @MikeTeunissen remains in yellow 🙌
— ITV Cycling (@itvcycling) July 7, 2019
What a first couple of days it's been for the Dutch team 🇳🇱 pic.twitter.com/6jYtCf33mn
"Looking at GC, it's a good performance, but obviously we wanted to win," Thomas said.
"I think 20 seconds (to Jumbo-Visma) is a big enough gap to know a few mistakes didn't cost us the stage win. It was a positive day for sure."
The Welshman added that he had felt no ill-effects from his late tumble on stage one.
"I have no injury issues," he said.
"I was going pretty slow when I hit the barriers yesterday - I'm absolutely fine."
"Everyone was riding pretty strongly."@GeraintThomas86 spoke to @mrendell shortly after @TeamINEOS's TTT#TDF2019 pic.twitter.com/rX51yxB9qS
— ITV Cycling (@itvcycling) July 7, 2019
Though Gianni Moscon - a rider who was almost sacked by then Team Sky 12 months ago when he was disqualified from the Tour for punching Elie Gesbert on stage 15 - was denied the yellow jersey, Thomas and Bernal will welcome the sight of some significant time gaps.
Home hope Romain Bardet suffered the biggest loss as his AG2R La Mondiale squad conceded 59 seconds to the Ineos duo, while Richie Porte's Trek-Segafredo gave up 58 seconds and Nairo Quintana's Movistar lost 45.
Dan Martin's UAE Team Emirates squad lost 43 seconds on Ineos but - given their lack of pedigree in the discipline - the Irishman was not too disappointed.
"Because we're all on different race programmes, it's difficult to find the time to work together and it's the first time we've done a team time trial in race conditions together," he said.
"I think we did a good performance. We just wanted to stay conservative, didn't want to take risks and I think we did that. We got the maximum out of ourselves and we have to be happy."
Others suffered less damage but still find themselves down the general classification standings.
Groupama-FDJ's Thibaut Pinot lost 12 seconds on the Ineos duo and Bahrain-Merida's Vincenzo Nibali conceded 16.
Jakob Fuglsang, who suffered a knee injury in a late crash on Saturday, kept his losses to 21 seconds against Ineos as he battled to help his Astana team, and it was the same deficit for Adam Yates and Mitchelton-Scott.
Simon Yates, here to help Adam in the mountains, was dropped by his team-mates with around 11km to go but that did not hamper the squad too much.
"We had a good ride," Adam said. "It was pretty tough out there.
"In the beginning I sat on a little bit to make sure I could get to the finish. We have some strong guys in the team who were putting in some very big turns."
Long before Jumbo-Visma rolled off the ramp, the first team to seriously threaten Ineos' mark was Katusha-Alpecin, powered along by Britain's time-trial champion Alex Dowsett.
They slipped to fifth overall by the end of the afternoon, 26 seconds down on Jumbo-Visma, but Dowsett said the performance left him "buzzing".
"If I said to you that I could have won it if I have done the right thing, I would have won every race," the Essex rider said.
"That was one of the most perfect team time trials I have been part of.
"That was good from us. Sometimes when you are part of a good team time trial you come back buzzing whatever the result is."
Tour de France: Stage-by-stage guide
July 8, Stage 3: Binche to Epernay (215km)
Four categorised climbs in the final 45 kilometres of a punchy third stage should make things unpredictable as the race makes its way into France. Can the sprint teams keep things together over these late lumps, or will the Classics specialists come to the fore? Peter Sagan will surely have the day circled.
July 9, Stage 4: Reims to Nancy (213.5km)
Funny things can happen in the first week of the Tour. Broadcasters could be counting on it, because stage four might otherwise be in danger of turning into a snooze fest. Just shy of 200 kilometres of near pan-flat roads precede one late lump on the horizon before a straightforward run to a sprint finish in Nantes.
July 10, Stage 5: Saint-Die-des-Vosges to Colmar (175.5km)
The first proper hills of the Tour come as they ride into the Vosges, where stage five takes the peloton over four categorised climbs, with two rated as category two. With general classification hopefuls perhaps keeping their powder dry for the next day, this could be one where a breakaway prospers.
July 11, Stage 6: Mulhouse to La Planche des Belles Filles (160.5km)
Here we go then. The GC battle should come alive over seven categorised climbs, four of them category one, including the summit finish at La Planche des Belles Filles. Recent Tour history suggests whoever wears yellow here will wear it in Paris - see Bradley Wiggins in 2012, Vincenzo Nibali in 2014 and Chris Froome in 2017 - but the Champs-Elysees is long, long way away. This year sees a change at the summit, with an extra kilometre including 24 per cent gradients and gravel sections.
July 12, Stage 7: Belfort to Chalon-sur-Saone (230km)
After those exertions there is a recovery day of sorts with flat roads taking the race south west towards wine country. However, at 230km this is hardly a rest. Expect a long, slow day with every chance of a headwind harassing the peloton. Chalon-sur-Saone is where Britain's Brian Robinson won the second of his two Tour stages in 1959 - and by a margin of some 20 minutes. That will not happen this time though, with a sprint finish expected.
July 13, Stage 8: Macon to St Etienne (200km)
The Massif Central does not boast the beasts of the Alps or Pyrenees, but with seven categorised climbs the Tour's route designer Thierry Gouvenou has made sure this will be a draining day on the legs. A day with multiple possible attack points is designed to break the control of the big teams - read Team Ineos.
July 14, Stage 9: St Etienne to Briourde (170.5km)
A stage that finishes in Romain Bardet's home town is not really difficult enough for the great French hope to take victory, but how the locals would love to see the 28-year-old end Bastille Day in yellow with his family watching on. As for the stage, expect a big breakaway, full of Frenchmen, attack each other on the final climb which peaks 13 kilometres from the line.
July 15, Stage 10: Saint-Flour to Albi (217.5km)
The peloton must wait until Tuesday for their first rest day but as they climb on their bikes one more time, riders will be grateful most of the second half of this stage is essentially downhill. The sprint teams will hope for a straightforward day.
July 17, Stage 11: Albi to Toulouse (167km)
The last time a Tour stage finished in Toulouse, back in 2008, a young debutant by the name of Mark Cavendish took victory. After two tough years of illness, injury and misfortune the Manxman could certainly use a repeat 11 years on. With the mountains looming, it will be the sprinters' last chance for a while.
July 18, Stage 12: Toulouse to Bagneres-de-Bigorre (209.5km)
And so to the Pyrenees, though stage 12 is just a warm-up. Two category one climbs, the Peyresourde and the Hourquette d'Ancizan, provide the focus before a long descent into Bagneres-de-Bigorre where Ireland's Dan Martin took his first stage win in 2013.
July 19, Stage 13: Pau to Pau (27.2 time trial)
The only individual time trial of this year's Tour will be a test of strength over a rolling course, but also a test of the head. Go too deep and riders will surely be burned on the mountain tests to come over the weekend. The eventual winner of the Tour has finished in the top four of every long time trial since 2011 but this time they may prefer to save their legs.
July 20, Stage 14: Tarbes to Tourmalet Bareges (117.5km)
The first of the five HC climbs comes on stage 14 - a short, sharp 117.5km race to the summit of the storied Tourmalet. The highest surfaced climb in the Pyrenees has featured in the Tour 87 times but this will be only the second stage finish at the summit.
July 21, Stage 15: Limoux to Foix Prat d'Albis (185.5km)
The second summit finish in a row comes on a more traditional Pyrenean stage, which rolls over several testing climbs, sapping the legs and the minds. However, there is no tradition to the finish with the Prat d'Albis making its Tour debut.
July 23, Stage 16: Nimes to Nimes (177km)
After the second rest day comes a pretty flat stage, though with constant changes of direction on a loop starting and finishing in Nimes, the sprinters' plans could be disrupted if the Mistral wind blows.
July 24, Stage 17: Pont du Gard to Gap (200km)
And so towards the Alps, though stage 17 features none of the big passes on a day of gradual climbing up to Gap. This is the stage in the race where breaks are often allowed to stay clear as the battle for yellow rages behind, but this day has been made to be utterly unpredictable. A punchy final climb of the Col de la Sentinelle could be a springboard, while it's not inconceivable some of the sprinters survive in the main group.
July 25, Stage 18: Embrue to Valloire (208km)
There may only be five HC climbs in the entire Tour, but two of them come in a single day as the riders tackle the Izoard and the Galibier before dropping down to the finish in Valloire. The stage winner should come from whichever group first crests the Galibier - appearing for the 60th time as the Tour's most regular Alpine venue - and this could be a decisive day overall.
July 26, Stage 19: Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to Tignes (126.5km)
Stage 19 is a leg-sapping day designed to test the resolve of anyone planning a late move in the general classification. The Iseran - at 2,770m the high point of the Tour - comes in the middle of the stage and casts a long shadow before the shorter climb to Tignes offers an opportunity for attacks.
July 27, Stage 20: Albertville to Val Thorens (130km)
The last chance saloon for GC hopefuls does not look an inviting one. The final climb of the Tour is the 33.4km HC slog up to Val Thorens. If ever there was a Tour designed for a true climber, one with only a handful of time trial kilometres and four HC climbs in the last three days could be it.
July 28, Stage 21: Rambouillet to Paris Champs-Elysees (128km)
There are two big questions on the final day. Will the yellow jersey winner choose a few glasses of champagne or, as Geraint Thomas did last year, prefer a beer or two as they celebrate along the roads of the Parisian suburbs? And which sprinters will have survived the mountains in order to battle it out on the Champs-Elysees?
