Stage 13 of the Giro d’Italia comes today with the race
still yet to truly reach the mountains, and few riders are more eager for the
terrain to change than
Derek Gee. After an up and down opening 11 days, the
Canadian climber sits 12th on general classification, a position that leaves
him unsatisfied but cautiously optimistic.
A breakout star at the 2023 Giro and ninth overall at the
Tour de France last year, Gee has arrived in Italy this May with genuine GC
ambitions. Yet so far, those ambitions have been held in check by a route that
hasn’t quite suited his strengths.
“I was very happy with the legs yesterday
[stage 11], not happy at all with the legs in the start of the race, so it's
definitely been an interesting first 11 days,”
he told Cycling News. “No
super decisive summit finishes or anything like that, so it's a little bit of
purgatory waiting for the really, really hard days to see where everyone
is."
It’s not just about the lack of big climbs, but the type of
climbing too. Gee admits that punchier finishes, such as the one to Tagliacozzo,
aren’t where he excels. “I definitely don't see myself as that punchy a rider.
I felt super comfortable, and then they opened it up with a km to go and I just
had to kind of stay where I was,” he explained. “Then on San Pellegrino I felt
really good on the longer climb. So I hope [the harder climbs] suit me.”
With his GC hopes still intact but not yet ignited, Gee is
looking to the third week for the race, and his performance, to truly take
shape. “I'm not super happy with where I'm sitting on GC right now, like if the
race ended tomorrow I wouldn't be stoked on twelfth,” he admitted. “So I'm
really hoping that on the longer climbs in the third week, I can make a little
bit of movement upwards.”
That said, moving up in a GC as tightly contested and
stacked as this Giro’s won’t come easy. Gee is under no illusions that form
alone is enough. “The biggest thing is just that the race is going to blow up
at some point in the third week,” he said. “It will just come down to who has
legs and who doesn't. After that, we might see some insane racing, if the first
big stage on stage 16 really turns the GC one way or the other.”
For Gee, the long game is everything. His early-season form
has been solid. and encouraging, but the Giro is the centrepiece of his year.
“Up to the Giro it went really well, I'm really happy with all the results. But
of course, it's all building towards this,” he said. “So as much I like to look
at those results and be happy with them, they're all kind of dependent on how
this Giro goes… There’s a little bit of stress there and a little bit of
pressure, but it's just a different challenge.”
In the end, he knows that the decisive moments will come
down to pure climbing strength. “Obviously on a summit finish it's a lot
different,” he said. “When it comes down to the final climb, then it's just
legs.”
Fortunately, Gee doesn’t have to shoulder the tactical
burden alone. Backed by a seasoned support crew, he’s in trusted hands. “A lot
of the guys that are helping me are so experienced that they can make the shots
for me,” he said.
“They’ve obviously raced for some of the biggest names in GC…
so a lot of times they'll just say ‘hey, this is what's best, do this,’ and
it’s just easy to go along with it. My job is to go as hard as I can on the
last climb.”