“They were ripping it to come back” - Derek Gee gets unlikely INEOS lifeline after winter transfer links as Lidl-Trek Canadian survives Giro d’Italia scare

Derek Gee did not end up at Netcompany INEOS after one of the more intriguing transfer sagas of the winter, but on stage 4 of the 2026 Giro d’Italia, the Canadian had reason to be grateful for the British team’s work all the same.

Now racing his first Grand Tour for Lidl-Trek, Gee was forced into a tense chase after suffering an untimely puncture in the final 30 kilometres of the stage to Cosenza. With the front group still pressing on after Movistar had blown the race apart over the Cozzo Tunno, another time loss briefly looked possible for a rider already recovering from the heavy stage 2 crash.

Instead, Gee found himself with unexpected company. Egan Bernal had also been dropped on the climb, with Ben Turner sacrificing his own stage-winning chances to drag the Colombian back into the front group. That chase became useful for Gee too.

Speaking to TNT Sports after the finish, Gee admitted the timing of the puncture had immediately left him fearing more damage in the general classification. “Yeah, really unfortunate timing on that one,” he said. “I thought that was going to be another minute gone, but luckily Egan was back there with Ben Turner and they were ripping it to come back.”

There is a neat twist in that. Gee spent the winter at the centre of transfer speculation after his exit from Israel-Premier Tech, now NSN Cycling Team, with INEOS among the teams repeatedly linked before he eventually landed at Lidl-Trek.

On stage 4, he was not wearing INEOS colours, but their GC emergency helped keep his own Giro on track. Turner’s job was to rescue Bernal’s position, not Gee’s, yet the Canadian was able to use that same effort as the chase group closed the gap.

Gee said there was no point where he could truly relax until the work was finished. Asked when he realised the danger had passed, he replied: “Yeah, not until we were back on. Even closing those last couple seconds was full gas.”

Lidl-Trek also played their part. Matteo Sobrero dropped back to help Gee finish the chase, ensuring the Canadian returned to the reduced peloton before the finale began in earnest. “Luckily, we had Matteo to drop back and help close that last little bit, but yeah, that was a hard chase,” Gee added.

For Gee, it was another important save after a bruising start to the race. He was among those caught up in the stage 2 crash and had already conceded time, but stage 4 could have been worse had the chase not come together.

The day ended far better for Lidl-Trek than it had briefly threatened to. While Jhonatan Narvaez gave UAE Team Emirates-XRG a badly-needed stage victory, Giulio Ciccone’s third place was enough to move him into the Maglia Rosa.

Gee said the result meant plenty inside the team bus, particularly given how much Ciccone had targeted the jersey before the stage. “And the team’s in pink now. What a day. That’s pretty special,” he said.

“For how much it means to Giulio, I mean, to everyone in this bike race, that jersey means a lot, but yeah, to hear him talk about it on the bus this morning and to know it was a realistic goal, it was super, super cool to pull that off.”

Gee’s own Giro remains alive too. It has already involved a crash, a puncture and a high-speed chase, but on a day where Bernal and Turner were fighting to limit INEOS losses, the Canadian also found a route back through a team he might once have joined.