Canadian rider Derek Gee, who turned heads with his breakthrough ride in the 2023 race, returns to the Giro d'Italia this week.
This time, the 27-year-old from Ottawa looks to make his mark in the general classification for the Israel-Premier Tech team rather than hunt for stage wins in the first of the year's three Grand Tour races.
The 2025 Giro opens Friday in Durres, Albania, and finishes 3,445 kilometres later on June 1 in Rome with five former champions in the field: Colombia's Nairo Quintana (2014), Ecuador's Richard Carapaz (2019), Colombia's Egan Bernal (2021), Australia's Jai Hindley (2022) and Slovenia's Primo啪 Rogli膷 (2023).
Israel Premier-Tech hopes Gee can join that list.
"It鈥檚 no secret that we are going to the Giro d鈥橧talia to ride the (general classification) with Derek," said Israel-Premier Tech sports director Sam Bewley. "We believe that with his abilities and physical capacities, we can do a really good GC with him.
"Of course, we want to win stages at the Giro too, and we鈥檝e got a number of guys capable of doing that. There should be plenty of opportunities for breakaways to succeed this year, and we鈥檝e got some really good guys to be part of that 鈥� Overall, we鈥檝e got a well-rounded group, with the main objective being the GC while also trying to pick up a few stage wins along the way.鈥�
Canadian Nick Zukowsky is also in the field, part of the Q36.5 team founded in 2023 by the owners of Italian cycling clothing brand Q36.5. The 26-year-old from Sainte-Lucie-des-Laurentides, Que., is riding in his first Grand Tour event.
Gee made his Giro debut with a bang in 2023 when he placed second four times and fourth twice. Gee eventually finished 22nd in the final general classification standings and was runner-up to Italy鈥檚 Jonathan Milan in the points race and France鈥檚 Thibaut Pinot in the King of the Mountains standings.
Gee was also honoured as the Giro鈥檚 鈥渟uper combative rider."
Gee was slated to support Domenico Pozzovivo's GC campaign at the '23 Giro, but the veteran Italian's race was cut short by COVID. That opened the door for Gee to make his mark.
"The Giro definitely has a special place in my heart," Gee said. "This is where I had my first big results. The crowds were amazing, and I鈥檓 super-motivated for this whole race. To come back to the Giro is really special to me."
"I don鈥檛 want to put a specific number on what my expectations are for the general classification, I just want to continue building on what we鈥檝e already achieved this season," he added. "Then, hopefully, in Rome, we can look back and have a good number on the board. I really just want to do the best race I can."
Gee will be supported by fellow Canadian Hugo Houle, New Zealand's Corbin Strong, Denmark's Jakob Fuglsang, Czechia's Jan Hirt, Italy's Marco Frigo and Australia's Nick Schultz, and Simon Clarke.
"All of these guys have a history of riding in support of leaders at Grand Tours or riding GC themselves, so we felt it was important to have them here," said Bewley. "They have been racing together a lot throughout the season already, really connecting as a group, and they have all prepared really well for this Giro. We are ready.鈥�
Gee followed his success at the '23 Giro by finishing ninth overall in last summer's Tour de France.
Gee was promoted to Israel-Premier Tech's WorldTour squad from its academy in May 2022, signing a new long-term deal in June 2023 following his breakout performance at the Giro.
Earlier this year, he won the five-stage O Gran Camino road race in Spain, finished fourth in the seven-stage Tirreno-Adriatico in Italy and placed third in the five-stage Tour of the Alps in Austria and Italy.
He finished third overall in the storied Criterium de Dauphine last June, winning one stage and finishing in the top 10 in four others. It marked his first WorldTour general classification podium.
He had missed two months of racing earlier in the year after breaking his collarbone in a crash in Belgium.
Gee was 44th in last summer's Olympic road race in Paris and was the top Canadian (20th) in the individual time trial.
In September, Gee placed 22nd in the individual time trial at the UCI Road World Championships in Zurich. He did not finish the road race.
Gee is also an accomplished track cyclist, coming fifth in the team pursuit at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, Canada鈥檚 best Olympic result in the event since 1932. In 2019, he was part of the Canadian squad that finished fourth in the team pursuit at the UCI Track World Championships.
Canadian-Israeli entrepreneur Sylvan Adams is one of Israel-Premier Tech's owners. Former Canadian star rider Steve Bauer is the team's sporting manager, while former Canadian rider Alex Cataford is sports director.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 5, 2025
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
