June 6/25 7:39 am - Derek Gee - the post-Giro Interview

Posted by Editoress on 06/6/25
 

Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech) has just become the third Canadian man in history to finish in the top-5 overall at a Grand Tour, with his fourth place at the Giro d'Italia. He joins Steve Bauer (4th, Tour de France, 1988) and Ryder Hesjedal (1st, Giro d'Italia, 2012). We spoke with Derek in Andorra, where he is recovering after the 21 stage Giro.

Photo courtesy Israel-Premier Tech

Canadian Cyclist:  My first question is one that you have probably heard a lot - before the Giro you said you weren't putting a number on what your goal was. Fourth may be off the podium, but top-5 at any Grand Tour is pretty special. So how do you feel now after the race is over?

Derek Gee::  Top-5 was always in my head as a massively lofty goal. I think the reason I didn't want to put a number on it was that, to finish top-5 ... so much can happen in a race and I didn't want to end up 13th having said my goal was a top-5. I'm overjoyed with fourth. I mean, okay, it's one spot off the podium, but fourth was as high up as I was going to finish.

CC:  Let's go through the race; first week you got off to a bit of a rocky start and lost some time and positions early on. Were you worried that things were starting badly and that it was going to be difficult to do well later in the race?

DG:  100%. I wasn't so worried about the one minute that I lost in Albania on the first stage, I think I was more worried about what it meant. It wasn't that I lost a minute to the lead of the race, but that I lost a minute to 50 guys. So, I was more worried about:  'did we get the prep wrong', 'is the form not there'. But, at the end of the day, there was lots of reassurance from the team; "it's a long race, no worries, legs will be good in the third week". There was definitely quite a bit of stress, but at the end we were right where we needed to be.

CC:  In the second week, things obviously started to jell and you started to move up from the 20s to fifth by the end of the week, about three minutes back.

DG:  Yes, it was definitely reassuring. It was such an interesting parcour, because it was so backloaded into the third week. At the same time, when I was so far down on GC [at the end of Week 1], the [time] gap was so small to the front. And, by the same token, when I was moving up on the GC, the gaps behind me were also super small. So it was kind of a waiting game, almost until, I would say, Stage 15 or 16, when we really got into the mountains and got some answers on where people sat. Until then I was moving up the GC all the time, which was nice, but it was also not big gaps.

CC:  Then [in Week 3] you had a couple of climbing stages that really blew the race apart. Were you a little surprised at how much those stages contributed, or were you expecting that those stages were really going to sort things out?

DG:  I think with the decisive stages coming so late, it was pretty clear that they weren't going to be raced passively. There was no more time, people needed to make a difference as soon as we hit those big mountains. We saw it through how some teams raced, like INEOS who took it up super aggressively, super early on. It made for really exciting racing, because everyone had to make the difference as soon as we hit those stages.

CC:  You certainly had a team behind you, but you didn't have a team like UAE or Visma, where they had someone like Wout van Aert. How did the team work to be able to help you, especially in those final stages.

DG:  The team rode amazingly, they rode out of their skins for me. They were there super deep on the climbs. The one unfortunate part was that the real high mountain climbing support was Jan Hirt, who was flying at the start of the race, he unfortunately broke his leg in the crash in Napoli [Stage 6]. So we lost him early on, which was a shame. But the rest of the boys really stepped up. Hugo [Houle] would get in breaks and past some climbs with the GC group he'd still be there. Marco [Frigo] would do the same. So, by no means do we have a super team, but we definitely punched above our weight.

CC:  Any particular moments that really stand out for you?

DG:  The first time I knew I had good legs was San Pellegrino, which was the first big mountain we did [Stage 11, 8.2% ave., 19% max]. That was a real confidence booster, because up to that point we had no big climbs. There were a lot of unknowns, and that was the first time you saw some separation in the GC group. It wasn't the biggest indicator, because, for example, Simon Yeats [Visma Lease a Bike, eventual winner] got distanced on that climb, but ended up being the best climber in the race by a mile. But at least it was the kind of stage where it was a real turning point from how the start of the race was for me; the bad luck and the bad legs. That was the stage where I really started feel that 'okay, maybe my legs are there and we can do something'.

CC:  Fourth overall matches Steve Bauer's fourth at the Tour and only Ryder Hesjedal with his win has had a better Canadian GC result in a Grand Tour. Have you thought about that?

DG:  I've thought a lot about it. To win a Grand Tour is a tall task, so I don't know if I'll ever be able to match Ryder there. But I think it's definitely a big goal for me in the future to get on the podium. It probably won't happen next Grand Tour; progression isn't always linear, so I'm not going to go from ninth at the Tour to fourth to a podium at my next Grand Tour. But hopefully I still have a lot of years left in my career, so hopefully I can hit the podium.

CC:  You are still relatively young for a Grand Tour rider [27]. Obviously, the goal is to win, but coming away from this Grand Tour, what are you taking away? For example, 'okay, THIS is where I need to make those improvements to get on the podium'.

DG:  I think the biggest thing that was clear watching the race is that I'm a bit of a diesel. I think it was pretty clear on Finestre [the climb on Stage 20 where Simon Yeats effectively won the Giro] that I didn't even think of following those guys [top-3 on GC - Yates, Isaac del Toro, Richard Carapaz] when they made their attacks. It was just about making my own pace.

But I think I lost a lot of time not being able to accelerate with del Toro and Carapaz over the top of some of the smaller climbs. They'd ride away and put time into the GC group. So, for sure, it's almost a regression from what I've worked on - because I think I used to be a much punchier rider coming out of the track days.

We focussed entirely on the longer efforts to mix it up and make the change to a GC focus. But now, especially in the GC race where I can be at the pointy end of it, that explosivity is definitely something that I need. It's just about finding the right balance there. That was something that was pretty glaring that stood out to me.

CC:  But, on the other side - of all the GC contenders, you finished the highest in the time trial.

DG:  There was a bit of luck there - I flatted on the gravel stage and lost a bit of time there, so I got some drier conditions in the TT because I was further down on the GC! But, aside from the drier conditions, I think the TT is a strength I have over some of the other GC riders. I'm a bigger guy, obviously, so I'll never be able to match Simon Yates on a one hour, 9% climb! That's definitely something I want to keep chipping away at, but, although it might be a strength, when you go to the Tour and there's Jonas [Vingegaard], Tadej [Pogacar] and Remco [Evenepoel] ... they can outclimb you, but they can also out-time trial you! So it's not like it [TT strength] is always an advantage; it's just in specific fields where maybe the GC field is smaller and more climbing heavy that maybe I have an advantage there.

CC:  Yes, the days of a time trial specialist like Miguel Indurain being able to win the GC at a Grand Tour seem to be over; you have to have - as you said - that climbing punch.

DG:  100%. I think you see how explosive the racing has become. It's definitely something ... I think we did all the right prep going into the Giro. The legs were as good as they were going to be, but it's also nice to come away and know that there are still areas that we can focus down on and, hopefully, make that next step.

CC:  Now that you have finished the Giro, I see that you are coming back to Canada for Road Nationals.

DG:  I'm really looking forward to it. It's a TT course I've done many, many times, and a road course that I've done a few times. So, I'm really, really looking forward to it. I think there's probably five or six of us coming back from IPT [Israel-Premier Tech] and the Devo team, so hopefully we can have a good race.

CC:  What about after that, the rest of the season?

DG:  Tentatively it's a break after Nationals and then a rebuild into the Tour of Poland and the Vuelta [a Espana]. Obviously, those are still pretty far away, so that's always subject to change, but, tentatively, that's the plan.