"I didn’t really have the energy to think about what Del Toro and Carapaz were doing" - Derek Gee settled and happy with fourth at Corsa Rosa

There was only one day at this Giro d'Italia where Derek Gee lost positions in the overall classification. The leader of Israel - Premier Tech had a complicated start with a 47th spot and unexpected time loss on the opening day, but from there on was on a constant uphill ride all the way into the corner of the final podium.

"Obviously, when you’re in fourth place, you want the podium. But I had the fourth-best legs. Those guys were well above me today, so there was nothing I could do," Gee was honest in words to Cyclingnews and FloBikes. "I’m just happy to be here, in this position."

Gee rode a very consistent race from the first time-trial in Albania onward, and having succeeded in this, climbed all the way to fourth position in the monstrous 16th stage of the race where Richard Carapaz and Simon Yates placed themselves close to Isaac del Toro. On stage 20, Gee rode away from the riders that could potentially overtake him on the Colle delle Finestre, but was only a spectator in the battle for the win.

Riding his own pace, he often found himself together with Isaac del Toro and Richard Carapaz, who were constantly moving off the front. "I didn’t really have the energy to think about what Del Toro and Carapaz were doing. I just did my own ride, I'm super steady," he explains. But the fact that he had managed to bridge across was already impressive, specially for a rider of his weight in such a steep climb. 

"It would have been suicide for me to try and go with those guys. With the kind of kick they have and their ability to recover from it, I would have been gone really, really quick. I rode it super steady but even I blew. I was crawling by the top," he admits.

Nevertheless it wraps up a successful Giro for the 27-year old who more and more cements himself as one of the best stage-racers in the world. "I'm happy in fourth. The team was amazing all race, we couldn't really hope for much more," he concluded.