A deep, deep, deep dive into Derek Gee

In 2023, many said that Derek Gee had a breakout year with his incredible ride at the Giro. Derek Gee had an incredible Giro, with four second-place finishes and two fourths in a Grand Tour debut that will be remembered for years. The Canadian finished second overall in the KOM, second overall in the sprints, second overall in the intermediate sprints, and 22nd overall. He was also second overall in kilometres spent in breaks.

To some, it was hardly a surprise. Riders like multiple national champion and pink jersey-wearer Svein Tuft, directeur sportifs Kevin Field, former pro Gord Fraser, and current pro Mike Woods saw it coming a mile away.

At the time, despite the excitement, some said it wasn’t clear just what he could do. “As Derek is still young and only just developing as a rider, it’s hard to know his true potential. I would be apprehensive to categorize him as a certain type of rider as he’s only just begun his career on the road,” former pro Michael Barry, who rode the Tour de France in 2010, said. “He obviously has the physical abilities to perform well in one-day Classics and one-week stage races based on his power and ability to recover over several days.”

Gee’s toughness at the 2018 Tour de Beauce

Gee’s potential was evident as early as 2018, notably during the Tour de Beauce. Field recalls stage 5 of the 2018 edition, where Gee shone brightly despite challenges.

James Piccoli secures dramatic Tour de Beauce overall victory on final stage

Gee was riding with the national team at the time, and half the team were track riders, the other half were road pros like Tuft. In the final days of the stage race, Team Canada was on the verge of taking home the overall lead through James Piccoli, as well as the team GC. But for that to happen, they needed riders to help support both Piccoli and the remaining ones fighting for top places. The track riders (of which Gee was one) said they felt sick in the morning of the last stage and were worried about compromising their track training.

“They all caught some sort of sniffle, they were sort of hanging on for dear life, as you do in your first Tour de Beauce,” Tuft said. “Derek just stood out from the rest of them—and I’m not saying anything was wrong with the other guys. He was just givin’ er every day, but his attitude was just what you hope for, in a young guy. He was just keen, no matter what happened, he wouldn’t let the race beat him down.”

Hardman Tuft, who was nearing the end of his career after many years riding at the WorldTour level, said that by the last stage the team had lost all of its other riders. However, they had a plan for Piccoli to go on the attack and take the lead (which he did). “We had a plan for James to go for it, but it was just me, Ben Perry, James and Derek left. Derek just throttled himself, really fought through, and I remember thinking, ‘That’s the guy with the right attitude.’ A lot of guys are talented, but none of it means anything until you can take a beating, get back up, and do it again.”

Numbers showed potential for greatness

People like Field and Fraser knew after that Gee could go on to do something bigger in his career.

“I saw all his training data at the time,” Field says, “and it was clear he was very, very good.” In 2019, Tuft recognized it too, calling Gee “special.” As Derek progressed to Israel Cycling Academy (ICA), Field kept in touch with key figures like Paulo Saldanha, Fraser, and Mike Woods, all of whom were excited about Gee’s potential.

In Fraser’s tenure at ICA, he was immediately impressed with Gee’s training and toughness. “We were both from Ottawa, so we definitely chatted,” Fraser, who rode the Tour in 1997, said. “But I could tell that he was going on to great things just by the way he rode himself to the ground, no matter what. When I saw his ride at the Giro, it was definitely an affirmation of some of the rides I’d seen him do at ICA. I was one of the guys close to Gee who was not surprised—we knew he had something special in him.”

How far can Derek Gee go?

Following Gee’s incredible 2023 Giro d’Italia, where he was a revelation, Mike Woods suggested to Field that Gee could podium in a Grand Tour. Field found that notion remarkable, but coming from Woods, it held weight. “Those are powerful words,” he told Woods, himself a stage winner of the Tour de France.

However, progress takes time. Gee’s rise to the WorldTour was rapid, and while his adaptability is rare, it’s crucial to respect the learning curve. Only a narrow band of athletes, like Tadej Pogačar or even Woods himself, adjust this quickly. For Gee to become a consistent GC contender, patience and experience are essential.

What about the Vuelta or the Giro?

While Gee’s climbing style might seem better suited to the punchier ascents of the Giro d’Italia or the Vuelta a España, Field sees him still being suited for the Tour. Riders molded like Bradley Wiggins or Geraint Thomas, with a steady power output, often thrive in the Tour’s steadier climbs. At the Giro, Gee was 76 kg. But by 2024, lost several kilos, and held his own on the climbs with riders like Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard.

Gee himself is realizing he is still a relative newbie to the big mountains and challenges of the Grand Tours. But he isn’t quite feeling the pressure yet. “I think the biggest thing that builds pressure is an expectation of results,” he said at the Grand Prix Cyclistes Montreal et Quebec. “As much as I’d love to come away from Quebec or Montreal with massive results, it’s not something that I’ve done in the past—get a big one-day result.”

For 2025, he is certain, however, that those stage races will be his focus.

“It’s definitely going to be different next year with stage racing, especially the races where, this year, I proved I could be really up there. Then, I think, I’ll definitely start to feel a little bit of the pressure. For now, I’m still just enjoying it,” he added.

Gee’s incomparable determination

Gee’s greatest strength is his character: focus, determination, and grit. “He’s been grounded and clear about his goals since he was 9 or 10 years old,” Field notes. Physically, the Olympian is robust and well-rounded, with a high workload capacity and excellent recovery.

A Canadian super fan knew Derek Gee was going places at 10 years old

As for weaknesses, they’re harder to pinpoint. The time trial remains a question mark—GC riders need top-5 TT capability, and Gee isn’t quite there yet. Although Gee is a former national TT champion and certainly talented in the discipline, that aspect of his performance may still need improvement. He finished 14th in the first TT at the Tour and 6th in the final one. However, it’s difficult to gauge the final TT, as only those aiming for the GC were pushing for top results. It will be interesting to see if his IPT team works with Gee on his bike setup and position further, as many of the top riders do, to optimize his performance in chronos.

What about the hilly Classics?

Despite what Gee said about being unsure about one-days, both Field and Fraser think Gee has a promising future in hilly classics like Il Lombardia, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and even Milan-San Remo. In 2023, an injury disrupted his spring campaign, preventing a proper Classics test. But his resilience in races like the Dauphiné and Tour de France suggests he can handle these grueling one-day races with more experience.

But to build for those races takes time. Both Fraser and Field say that to have endurance for 250-km+ races, it typically requires 6-12 outings at this distance. His Olympics and world championships were decent, but not extraordinary. He was 44th in Paris and DNFed at the road worlds. However, it could very well have been the result of a long season with some big rides.

Pro cycling can be a progressive sport—in that the more experience you get, in both your legs and your mind, the better you get. Gee has already had two quite impressive years recently, but 2025 and 2026 could be even more extraordinary.