Derek Gee still in the mix at Giro d’Italia: “Simon Yates and I are built for the long efforts”

Gee held firm on the Mortirolo, staying with the big names and riding near the front all day. But on the final steep climb, the diesel from Ottawa had no answer to the surge from Richard Carapaz and Isaac Del Toro. “I saw them go, but there was just nothing I could do. They were so explosive in those final few hundred meters.”

“They opened a gap and there just wasn’t enough time to close it,” said Gee, who crossed the line sixteen seconds back alongside several other GC riders. “It made sense that people looked to me and Simon Yates, though we’re more suited to longer efforts. This was more of a punchy uphill sprint, and credit to them for how they rode it.”

“It was quite a selective day with the Mortirolo in the middle, but in the end it paid off to have teammates up the road because of the long valley section that followed,” the Canadian reflected. “We had Hugo Houle in the break and that helped a lot, but Visma | Lease a Bike also dropped a few riders back to support their leaders.”

“Del Toro and Carapaz managed to break it apart, and that was impressive,” Gee repeated, still rating the pink jersey highly. “He’s just such an explosive rider, and that final climb suited him perfectly. We’ll see what the next few days bring, though I do hope Thursday is a bit more of a quiet one,” Gee said through his team, Israel-Premier Tech.