The Australian team clocked a time of 21 minutes eight seconds on the 18.9km loop in Sittard, just a second quicker than Omega Pharma-QuickStep, while Katusha were just one second further back in third place.
Orica-GreenEdge's Jens Keukeleire of Belgium leads the general classification ahead of team-mates Sebastian Langeveld and Svein Tuft, with the field tightly bunched after the opening stage finished in a bunch sprint.
In the opening stage of the Tour de l'Ain, Belarus sprinter Yauheni Hutarovich (FDJ) won ahead of Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Saxo Bank) with Gerald Ciolek (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) third.
