The Brazilian made a spectacular jump in the general classification after the first mountain test.
Outside of the top 30 overall after being involved in a crash where he lost precious time in the first day of the Tour de l’Avenir, Henrique Bravo knew that the mountain time trial scheduled by stage five was his chance to return in the fight for a good result at the most important U23 event of the year.
An 11.5km climb averaging 6.4% was what the race had in store for the riders, and Bravo lived up to the expectations, putting in a strong showing that catapulted him close to the top ten. The 20-year-old winner of Giro della Valle d’Aosta stopped the clock in 25:58 after being one of the few riders to record an average speed of more than 25km/h and made a massive jump in the standings, where Soudal Quick-Step Devo teammate Viktor Soenens is tenth, just ahead of him.
It was a beautiful time trial and I could put in a good effort.
“I started a bit too strong and then I struggled a bit before finding my rhythm, but at the end of the day, I’m content with what I could do. It’s a nice result for the morale ahead of Tuesday’s stage five, which will see us take on several hard climbs and 5000 vertical meters, and we are confident we can continue to improve our general classification”, Henrique said at the end of the stage that concluded in Flaine.
