Pinto and Ferreira win opening time trial in Brasil

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The third edition of Brasil Ride began on Sunday in the city of Mucugê, gateway to the National Park of Chapada Diamantina, Bahia. The first of the seven days brought 300 athletes from 19 countries and 15 different Brazilian states. Among the professional and amateur racers, a team from Portugal won the stage and became the first overall leaders.

"Today was very important not to lose time, we did a good job and we really begins tomorrow the fight for the title," said winner Luis Leão Pinto, 33, on behalf of himself and his teammate, Tiago Ferreira, 24.

The first 18km stage featured a bit of everything: rocks, sand, river crossing, singletrack and an urban section.

During the seven-day event, racers will ride more than 600km, with 11,359 meters of climbing.

Moments before the start the race, the Brasil Ride event paid tribute the "Guarinis", a title awarded to athletes who have participated in all three editions of the race thus far . The Guarinis had the opportunity to have breakfast with Olympic champion Bart Brentjens and former F1 car driver Christian Fittipaldi and last year's winners.

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