This undated photo shows Canadian Derek Gee in Israel-Premier Tech’s new uniform. The 27-year-old from Ottawa will lead Israel-Premier Tech’s charge in the general classification of the 2025 Giro d’Italia. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Israel-Premier Tech **MANDATORY CREDIT**

Canadian Derek Gee is headed back to the Giro d'Italia, this time leading the Israel-Premier Tech team.

The 27-year-old from Ottawa turned heads in his Grand Tour debut at the 2023 Giro when he finished second four times and fourth twice. Gee eventually finished 22nd in the final general classification standings and was runner-up to Italy’s Jonathan Milan in the points race and France’s Thibaut Pinot in the King of the Mountains standings.

Gee was also honoured as the Giro’s “super combative rider."

"The race has a special place in my heart," Gee said in a virtual availability Tuesday. "It's kind of the first results I got in Europe, the first time I could really be competitive in a big race. So I'm super-excited to go back — in a massively different capacity than I raced it in '23."

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.

Gee will be supported by his team in the GC bid this time, rather than going after stage wins in the race, scheduled to run from May 9 to June 1.

"It'll definitely be a different experience than 2023," said Gee. "Nothing, I think, will ever replicate that feeling of having the breakout race. But I'm incredibly excited to tackle it from the GC perspective."

Gee followed his success at the '23 Giro by finishing ninth overall in this summer's Tour de France.

The Israel-Premier Tech team spent the last nine days training in Girona, Spain, at its first pre-season camp.

Gee says his confidence is at an all-time high.

"I didn't expect any of those (past) results," he said. "That mindset has completely shifted. I know what I'm capable of because of (those results). And now to see the work on top of that's already started at this camp in December and going into next season, I have a lot better grasp of what works well for me, what doesn't."

The Grand Tour events take a toll.

Gee was burning through some 6,000 calories some days on the bike during the gruelling 21-stage, 3,490-kilometre Giro in 2023.

"By the end of it, I was so tired. I couldn't shut my brain off, especially because I was getting the first results of my career, getting messages left and right. By the end I was sleeping four or five hours a night and then I'd have to go out and race the next day.

"The Tour this year was much better. I think I prepared for what the third week of a Grand Tour is like because that's when you really start to feel it. It is the type of fatigue that's hard to replicate. I think even last year I got it wrong. I didn't recover enough afterwards. And that was reflected in the end of my season when I just couldn't find the same form again."

Gee was promoted to Israel-Premier Tech's WorldTour squad from its academy in May 2022. He signed a new long-term deal in June 2023 following his breakout performance at the Giro.

Gee finished third overall in the storied Criterium de Dauphine this 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.

He was 44th in this summer's Olympic road race in Paris and was the top Canadian in 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’s 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.

Other Canadians on the Israel-Premier Tech team are Michael Woods, Hugo Houle, Guillaume Boivin and Riley Pickrell.

"It's a privilege," Gee said of riding with the Canadians and other teammates like Denmark's Jakob Fuglsang.

The veteran Woods has said while he wants to see how he fares in 2025, he has the 2026 UCI Road World Championships, scheduled for September 2026 in Montreal, circled on his calendar.

“I would love to end my career at worlds in Montreal,” said the 38-year-old Woods.

Canadian-Israeli entrepreneur Sylvan Adams is one of Israel-Premier Tech's owners. Canadians Jean Belanger, president and CEO of Premier Tech based in Rivière-du-Loup. Que., and Kevin Ham are also partners in the team.

Former Canadian star rider Steve Bauer is the team's sporting manager while fellow Canadian Paulo Saldanha is the team's performance director.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 17, 2024

News from © The Canadian Press, 2024