Henrique Bravo arrives in Italy after already securing the general classification and a stage victory at the Tour of Antalya in March, then repeating the feat last week at the Oberösterreich Rundfahrt in Austria. And now the twenty-year-old is preparing for what he considers the most important race of his career so far.

"It was a really great week in Austria. We came from an excellent training camp in Sierra Nevada and everyone was in top form. 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".

The result has given the Brazilian from Soudal Quick Step Devo plenty of confidence ahead of his Giro Next Gen debut: "I feel very good. We have a really strong team and we're all excited about the Giro. We have several riders who have already shown good form and achieved excellent results this season, so I think we can be competitive throughout the race".

Bravo believes that one of the team's greatest strengths is the atmosphere that has developed among the riders during the season: "We have a great group. We spend a lot of time together and recently we were together for almost a month in Sierra Nevada. It's important to have a good atmosphere and we certainly have that. Everyone gets along very well and that helps a lot when participating in races like this".

Although Bravo has already achieved success in 2026, the Giro Next Gen represents a significant step up in quality. The race is widely considered one of the most prestigious events in Under 23 cycling and has launched the careers of many future WorldTour stars. "I've never raced the Giro Next Gen before and I didn't even participate in the Tour de l'Avenir last year, so this will be my first experience in one of the most important Under 23 stage races. I'm excited about the prospect of competing against the best riders. Of course, there are strong riders in many races throughout the year, but this is one of the most important events on the calendar and everyone arrives in top form".

Despite the challenge ahead, the Brazilian doesn't expect the step up in competition to be a shock. "I think the level will be very high, but it won't be a shock. Perhaps the biggest difference will be the pressure from the peloton in the first few days. After that, when we get to the mountains, I think the course suits me quite well".

The mountain stages are the ones Bravo highlighted in the route. After several challenging initial days, the race concludes with a series of major mountain stages before a final individual time trial. The last days will likely be decisive for the general classification.

"There are two uphill finishes and those are the stages I prefer. You already have several days of hard racing behind you and then you arrive at the most demanding climbs of the race. Those are the stages I'm looking forward to the most".

The final time trial will be Bravo's first European time trial, a discipline he has focused on in recent months. "I've only raced one time trial before, at the Brazilian national championships. This year I've focused more on this aspect, so we'll see how it goes".

Alongside the Brazilian, the Belgian team will field Italian Federico Savino, Belgians Jasper Schoofs, Gauthier Servranckx and Viktor Soenens, and Slovenian Erazem Valjavec.