"He can completely unplug for now": No more pumpkin-carrot diet for Derek Gee-West after Giro top-5

Derek Gee-West completed the 2026 Giro d'Italia without displaying any major weaknesses, used his strong weapon - time trial - to move up the rankings, and through a daring attack in the queen stage secured a top-5 result, his second within two years following a 4th place in 2025. This confirms Gee-West as a proven GC rider; his story to reach this point was unique.

Even though the Canadian rider would've always competed on road here and there since the juniors (when he became Canada's junior time trial champion), his early career revolved more around track cycling. Part of Canada's team pursuit national team, Gee-West's track career culminated at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics with a fifth-place finish.

Around this time, Israel-Premier Tech identified Derek Gee's road talent and gave him a chance on their development team for the 2022 season, during which Gee-West earned a promotion to the main team, where he debuted at the age of 26. And the rest is history.

It was a fascinating transition, one that required more than just a change of mentality, Gee-West explains in a team interview: "When I was doing track racing, I was around 77 to 80 kilos. Then I switched to the road and did my first year at around 76. I found my success when I dropped down to about 72 kilos with a top-10 at the Tour de France the year after."

"It was a fight as I didn’t want to start thinking weight was the be-all-and-end-all and push it too far. It’s definitely a struggle between trying to find the right balance of being skinny for a competition, but at the same time, trying not to push it too far, because even at my lightest race weight, I’m probably still the heaviest guy in the GC field," he laughs.

Just like pushing massive watts per kilo, nutrition has become an inseparable aspect of cycling. For this cause, Gee-West works with experienced nutritionist Marco Sassi, who explains some of the factors that influence feeding during a race:

"Many things can change during the race, depending on whether you’re in the break or in the peloton. That can impact your consumption. Sometimes, even what you eat on the bike can change because you might not feel like you need as much as planned. After all, the peloton is riding easier than expected," Sassi says.

Nutritionists also focus on the types of food riders eat to ensure the best feeling on the bike.

"We choose lower fibre food on climbing days, for example, to make sure the gut is free and empty. We reduce wholegrains and vegetables to just certain types like zucchini, pumpkin, carrot," Sassi explains.

At least after the Grand Tour, Gee-West will be allowed some "cheat days" with no further big goals in his calendar at the moment. "After the Giro, Derek will have some time when he’s not tracking the food, and he can completely unplug, which is good for the mental part," Sassi explains.

There is no denying that the term "power-to-weight ratio" has transcended to somewhat of a magic formula when it comes to cycling. The physics is strict there; in order to go uphill faster, a rider either needs to produce more power or weigh less. But there's a limit to both approaches, and finding a sweet spot that allows the rider to perform at the highest level possible is the real alchemy.

"I know focusing on your weight is just part of the sport, but you have to know when to switch off, enjoy life, and recover. Then when you’re at a training camp or something, it’s super easy to be dialled and get where you need to go," Gee-West says.

"On a normal day, I would probably weigh everything up until dinner, then just eyeball dinner, knowing what I want left. That’s how I find a balance because I feel like if I weighed every single thing all day, it would crack me eventually. That being said, as it gets closer to the Giro, those are the little things that you dial in, and it leaves a little bit of room for being more precise closer to the big goals."