INTERVIEW: Derek Gee ready to start season at Gran Camino: "I'm really happy with the legs coming in"

Derek Gee, one of the breakout stars of last season, is set to begin his 2025 campaign at Gran Camiño. The 27-year-old Canadian enjoyed a brilliant 2024, finishing ninth at the Tour de France on debut and securing a podium spot at the Critérium du Dauphiné. Now, as he prepares for another big year, Gee spoke to CyclingUpToDate about his expectations and preparations.

When asked why he chose to start his season at O Gran Camiño, Gee explained that the race holds good memories for him.

"Oh, I mean, it's, I've done this race once before. It's a later start than I'm used to. I've done the Tour Down Under the last few years. But yeah, I got good memories from this race in 2022, so I'm looking forward to start the season here."

Given his strong performances last year, Gee is among the favourites for the race, but he remains cautious about his form.

"I'm really happy with the legs coming in."

"I had a good winter training, but first race of the year, you never know, you know you gotta get the racing legs back. Yeah, let's see where it goes."

In recent weeks, more and more professional riders have switched to smaller cranks, particularly on road bikes. While Gee has experimented with them in time trials, he hasn’t yet considered making the change for regular road racing.

"That's possible. I mean, I've always run little cranks on the time trial bike, but, not on the road bike."

When asked if he had given it much thought, he admitted,

"I guess I haven’t really thought about it."