Henrique Bravo was involved in a crash and lost almost two minutes on the roads of Normandie.
Soudal Quick-Step Devo and Henrique Bravo came with big ambitions to the start of the Tour de l’Avenir. The Brazilian has been one of the standout riders of the season on the U23 calendar, fresh from his victory in Giro della Valle d’Aosta, and was targeting a top-three overall finish at the prestigious race.
Stage one, from Caen la Mer to Argentan, had many hills in the final 50 kilometers, and together with the rain and strong winds that made an appearance, split the peloton. Viktor Soenens was in the first group, but Henrique found himself chasing together with some of the other pre-race favorites. With around 15 kilometers to go, on a descent, a crash took place, and our Brazilian climber was among those who hit the deck. Fortunately, he could continue the stage, but ended up losing two minutes Thursday afternoon.
Henrique wasn’t the only Soudal Quick-Step Devo rider involved in a crash; also Erazem Valjavec got caught in a pile-up and had to abandon due to a broken collarbone. In the end, our feeder’s squad best placed rider after this hectic stage is the 20-year-old Viktor, a top ten finisher at the Volta Comunitat Valenciana this season, who concluded in ninth place.
Photo credit: ©Wout Beel
