Fresh from taking another GC victory, the Brazilian heads to the Giro Next Gen full of confidence and eager to test himself against the world's best Under-23 riders.
Henrique Bravo arrives in Italy having already claimed the overall classification and a stage victory at the Tour of Antalya in March, before repeating the feat last week at Oberösterreich Rundfahrt in Austria. And now the 20-year-old is preparing for what he considers the biggest race of his career so far.
It was a really nice week in Austria.
“We came from a very good training camp in Sierra Nevada and everybody was in great shape. I won the first stage and then the team defended the jersey for the next three days, so it was a very special race for us”, Henrique said.
The result has given the Brazilian plenty of confidence ahead of his Giro Next Gen debut, where he will line up alongside some of the strongest young riders in the sport: “I feel very good. We have a really strong team and we’re all excited for the Giro. We have several riders who have already shown good form and taken strong results this season, so I think we can be competitive throughout the race.”
Bravo believes one of the team’s greatest strengths is the atmosphere that has developed between the riders during the season: “We have a very good group. We spend a lot of time together and recently we were together for almost a month at Sierra Nevada. It’s important to have a great atmosphere and we definitely have that. Everybody gets on really well and that helps a lot when you go to races like this.”
While Bravo has already enjoyed success in 2026, the Giro Next Gen represents a significant step up. The race is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious events in Under-23 cycling and has launched the careers of many future World Tour stars. “I’ve never raced the Giro Next Gen before and I didn’t race the Tour de l’Avenir last year either, so this will be my first experience of one of the biggest Under-23 stage races. I’m excited to see my level against the best riders. Of course, there are strong riders at many races throughout the year, but this is one of the biggest events on the calendar and everybody arrives in top shape.”
Despite the challenge ahead, the Brazilian does not expect the step up in competition to come as a shock. “I think the level will be very high, but it won’t be a shock. Maybe the biggest difference will be the stress in the bunch during the first days. After that, when we get into the mountains, I think the parcours suits me quite well.”
The climbing stages are the ones Bravo has highlighted on the route. After several demanding opening days, the race concludes with a series of major mountain stages before a final individual time trial.
The last few days will probably be the key days for the general classification.
“There are two mountain-top finishes and those are the stages I really like. You already have several hard days in your legs and then you arrive at the biggest climbs of the race. Those are the stages I'm most looking forward to.”
The final time trial will be Bravo’s first European time trial, something he has specifically worked on in recent months. “I've only ridden one time trial before, at the Brazilian national championships. This year I’ve put more focus on it, so we'll see how it goes.”
Before then, however, there are several difficult days to navigate in what is expected to be a demanding week of racing. “The riders who raced it last year told me it’s a very hard race. There are no easy stages and no days where you can relax. You have to stay focused every day. It will be a tough week, but it will be a very nice week too.”
Photo credit: ©Oberösterreich Rundfahrt
©Wout Beel
