How did Derek Gee end up riding with the Israel-Premier Tech recently?

Recently, track cycling Olympian Derek Gee found himself on a climb in Spain surrounded by WorldTour riders. A few weeks previous, that wasn’t part of the plan for the Ottawa rider on Israel Cycling Academy, the continental team connected with WorldTeam Israel-Premier Tech. Gee got called up to the majors, if you will. Here’s how it happened, as well as Gee’s thoughts on his performances with the WorldTeam.

What led to your call-up to race with the WorldTeam Israel-Primer Tech at Grand Prix Cycliste de Marseille La Marseillaise and Gran Camiño?

Tough to say. We aren’t told too often why we’re getting the call-up, just that someone on the original roster can’t race. It could be injury or illness. But we have a great system at IPT/ICA. They don’t have to start a race down a rider so it provides us on the Academy some massive opportunities.

For Marseille, I found out pretty last minute. But Gran Camino I knew around a week in advance. It was really nice to have that extra bit of motivation and have a little preparation time.

What had your schedule been? What was your early spring supposed to look like?

Originally, after the end of team camp in January, I was supposed to start racing March 6 (at the Grand Prix de la Ville de Lillers Souvenir Bruno Comini) with ICA, followed by Tour de Normandie in late March. Those races are still a go but it was great to get in a stage race with the WT team in between, especially after a great team camp.

The big story from Gran Camiño was your fifth in the ITT in the final stage. But you looked like you were doing OK on the elevation-heavy Stage 3. How was all that climbing for you?

Stage 3 was definitely a tough stage, but I climbed much better than I was expecting. At a certain point, I looked around and realized that everyone I was with was about 10 kg lighter than me, so I was really happy to be climbing with them. It also helps a lot to have a team leader like Mike [Woods]. When you have a guy who is racing that well who you’re working for, it helps you dig a little deeper.

How did you feel after the ITT the next day?

When I crossed the line and our soigneur told me I was the fastest, I couldn’t believe it! I was hoping for a top 15, if I had a good day. So to get to sit in the hot seat and end up fifth was pretty amazing. I couldn’t stop smiling.

What does that result tell you?

This result has given me a lot of confidence moving forward. It’s pretty intimidating to be racing up from the continental team to race the WorldTour riders, but I’m glad to know I can be competitive at some races at that level. I’m really looking forward to the next opportunity to race up to that level.

What has racing with IPT shown you?

Racing with IPT has shown me that I’m in the right spot to progress and reach my potential as a cyclist. The growth over the past few months, both physically and in terms of what I’ve learned from staff and riders on the team, is massive. It makes me incredibly excited for the rest of the year.

What’s ahead for you later this spring and even into the summer?

The racing is starting to come more frequently now that the season has properly kicked off. I’ll be doing a lot of racing in Northern France and then hopefully back to Canada for nationals this summer.