The South American is just four seconds from the overall podium with two days to go.
Henrique Bravo put in a brave ride on the third stage of Okolo Slovenska, lighting up the race on the last climb of the day and coming close to fighting for victory in Dohnany. It was another convincing display from the young Brazilian, in his first outing with the World Tour team since the Tour de l’Ain.
The day started out with Paul Magnier in the yellow jersey, but the double stage winner got dropped on the hard Kohutka climb, and despite his best efforts, he couldn’t rejoin the peloton. When Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto Intermarche) surged away, Henrique was the only one to bridge across. A few minutes later, two other men joined them and together they put 40 seconds into the peloton. Bravo’s effort there was a solid one, but despite working well together, the quartet was caught by the reduced peloton within sight of the finish line, and the 20-year-old finished in 11th place.
Today was a good day.
“We had a strategy to go together with the strongest guys on the ascent knowing that it would be difficult for Paul to return in the descent. The big group caught us just before the line, but despite this, I’m happy with the legs I had and how strong I felt. It was a promising ride ahead of Sunday’s stage, which will be decisive for the general classification”, said Henrique, who sits in ninth overall.
