Henrique Bravo: The always-smiling Brazilian who loves the mountains

Get to know better our South American talent, who has recently embarked on what he hopes to be a life-changing experience with the Wolfpack.

Henrique Bravo is one of the many promising riders that have joined the Soudal Quick-Step Devo Team at the beginning of the season. The 19-year-old comes from a country where football is king and names such as Pele, Garrincha, Socrates, Zico or Ronaldo have achieved godlike status thanks to their skills, results and charisma that have had an enormous influence on a sport whose popularity just continued to grow over the years.

Hailing from Nova Lima, a small town in the Minas Gerais region lying some 500 kilometers from the Atlantic Ocean, Henrique showed his talent in mountain bike races, taking a total of six wins on home turf before travelling to Europe and leaving a solid impression at the Junior World Championships held in Andorra. Not long after, he made a splash in Spain, on the road this time, where he won the three-day Vuelta a la Ribera del Duero after a dominant performance on the climbs – a result that caught the attention of many.

At that point, the young Brazilian was already in contact with our team, and after some testing in Belgium and meeting a couple of the Soudal Quick-Step riders, he became a member of the Wolfpack’s feeder squad, for whom he debuted in April, at the Circuit des Ardennes.

A resident of Girona, where he enjoys spending his time with friends and taking some relaxing walks in the evenings when he is not on his bike to watch the sunset, Henrique talked about his first steps in the sport, tasting victory early, turning heads in Europe and becoming a member of our Devo team.

MTB – First love

“I did a lot of sports when I was young – swimming, tennis, football – and the reason for that is that I was fascinated by sports. I was also watching a lot of football on TV, which isn’t a surprise, as it’s a huge sport in our country, as everyone knows. My favourite football team was, and still is, Sport Recife. It’s a team from the north of the country, the same region my family hails from, which is kind of funny, as my hometown of Nova Lima is in the south-east part of Brazil.

Then, around the age of 12, I became interested in mountain biking, as many people in my neighbourhood were doing it, and I too wanted to discover this sport. I asked my mother for a bike and we went together to a bike shop, where she bought me one. I started out with a Specialized RockHopper, and I remember that the day I got it, I rode 40 kilometers around my neighbourhood, that’s how excited I was.

This also made me more curious to watch cycling races on TV or on the internet, especially MTB ones. The MTB culture is strong in South America, especially in Brazil, but also in countries like Argentina and Chile. The place where I lived was no exception, as it was great for mountain biking: it had some great trails and really nice climbs, and I got to develop my skills thanks to this. It was really amazing.

I raced a lot in Brazil, and if in the beginning I started from the back, I made a lot of progress, to the point I began scoring victories while learning a lot. All this led to me coming to Europe, where in 2023 I got to do some UCI junior races in Switzerland and Italy, thus discovering a different way of racing and different trails. It was something incredible for a 17-year-old!”

An unexpected success in Spain

“My first real experience on the road was last year. Prior to that, I had competed in five road races in Brazil, but that didn’t compare to what I found by coming to the start of Vuelta a la Ribera del Duero. I went there without knowing what my level was, without having any kind of experience in a race like that, and I can say that it was an eventful race from day one. On the first stage, a short and flat one, I was involved in a crash just ten kilometers after the start together with half the peloton. Then, I crashed again on the same day, but fortunately it wasn’t anything serious and I could continue.

On the second stage, which culminated with an uphill finish, I just attacked and rode solo to the line, putting one minute into the chasers. That’s one of my best memories, because people had no idea who I was, I wasn’t even supposed to be in that race, but I got that fantastic victory, which made me really proud. Then, on the last day, I successfully defended the jersey, and to do that and be on the podium was truly unbelievable.”

Joining the Wolfpack

“It was before the Ribera del Duero that I got contacted by Molly, and I was surprised to find out that one of the best teams in the world knew my results and who I was. I can’t tell you how excited I was. I did some tests in Belgium, then I travelled with Molly to the European Championships in Belgium.

There, I got to meet Tim Merlier and Bert Van Lerberghe, and that was the day I knew that Soudal Quick-Step was the best option for me.

They both treated me as being part of the team, they were incredibly nice despite now knowing who I was, and that family spirit that I felt around them convinced me that the Wolfpack was the right place for me to develop.

The first couple of races I did with the team this year were really nice. I felt that I gained experience in the European peloton and developed. I hope to continue on this trajectory, because I feel great being part of the Soudal Quick-Step Devo Team. I love riding my bike, that’s why you can see me smiling in all the photos where I’m on one. I know it’s too early to know exactly what kind of rider I am, but what I do know is that I love being in the mountains. There’s no better feeling in the world than this! I love climbs, it doesn’t matter what type they are. I’m happy that here I get to do all kinds of races and get the support I need to learn and become a better rider.”

Photo credit: ©Wout Beel