Paul Rouget, Media365: published on Monday, May 29, 2023 at 20:24.

While he surprised everyone and was the most combative in his first Grand Tour, young Canadian Derek Gee took second stage wins four times this Giro and finished second in four other classifications!

He is one of the revelations of this Giro 2023 won by Primoz Roglic on Sunday. 25-year-old Derek Gee (Israel-Premier Tech) distinguished himself by his first participation in a Grand Tour and even won the combat readiness award at this Tour of Italy where he finished 22nd. Final. And he was that too and above all (?). second of four stages and four additional ratings! Gee, who finished second in the 8th, 10th, 14th and 19th stages and also finished fourth twice, finished second in the points classification, the mountain classification, the middle sprint classification but also in the classification that rewarded the rider , who survived the most runaway kilometers !

Much humor

What earned him the nickname “Poulidor” and an image of the eternal second? What is certain is that the person affected takes all this with a great deal of consideration and humour. “It will be difficult to do a Giro like this again, but luckily I gave myself some leeway by not winning anything, he joked after the arrival of the final stage, before getting serious again. I can’t wait to look back on my performance and see if that changes what kind of rider I want to be going forward, but I need to start the recovery.”

As I wait to see him perform again, while today, taking part in the next Tour de France seems highly unlikely, His performance will do the Israel Premier Tech team very goodwho is trying to get back on the World Tour after being relegated last year.