Valero withstands another infernal day in the Brasil Ride and maintains the lead by a narrow margin

The Brasil Ride Bahia 2025 continues to offer epic stages. After the suspension of stages 2 and 3 due to the intense rains that hit the region, the race has two more stages with a scenario almost equally adverse with mud, constant rain. The demanding 100 km stage 5 with 2,283 m of positive elevation gain was considered the queen stage of the race and once again tested the endurance of all participants.

Alex Malacarne wins the queen stage of the Brasil Ride; Valero remains leader by just two seconds

Brazilian Alex Malacarne (Specialized Racing BR) took the victory of the day in a close finish, narrowly beating Spanish David Valero (BH Coloma Team) and Portuguese Tiago Ferreira (Vouzela-BH-TF). The three rode together for much of the day, in a duel that was practically decided in the last meters.

"It has been an epic stage, the climbs were very tough, in the descents you had to be very careful and ... mud to the max," explained Spanish David Valero after crossing the finish line.

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Despite finishing in second place, David Valero retains the overall leader's jersey, although his advantage over Ferreira remains at just 2 seconds. With his victory, Malacarne moves up to third place in the general classification, confirming his great moment in this second half of the race.

Top 5 - Stage 5 (100 km | 2,283 m D+)

1. Alex Malacarne (Brazil / Specialized Racing BR) - 4:12:23
2. David Valero (Spain / BH Coloma Team) - +0:03
3. Tiago Ferreira (Portugal / Vouzela-BH-TF) - +0:04
4. Gustavo Xavier (Brazil / Specialized Racing BR) - +4:27
5. Hans Becking (Netherlands / Buff Megamo MTB Team) - +4:28

General classification after stage 5

1. David Valero (Spain / BH Coloma Team) - 11:05:58
2. Tiago Ferreira (Portugal / Vouzela-BH-TF) - +0:03
3. Alex Malacarne (Brazil / Specialized Racing BR) - +14:20
4. Hans Becking (Netherlands / Buff Megamo MTB Team) - +15:50
5. Flavio Neto (Brazil / Squadra Oggi) - +29:12