Inexperienced Gee returns to the Giro with Israel – Premier Tech, aiming for the GC with help from experienced teammates

Gee is really looking forward to tackling the Giro in a new way. "It was pretty special to be hunting for stages two years ago, but this time I’ll have a different and more ambitious goal – thinking of the GC. I don’t want to put a specific number on what my expectations are for the general classification," said the Canadian on his team's website. "I just want to continue building on what we’ve already achieved this season. Then, hopefully, in Rome, we can look back and have a good number on the board. I really just want to do the best race I can." Gee won O Gran Camiño this year and finished fourth in Tirreno-Adriatico and third in the Tour of the Alps.

Sports director Sam Bewley sees great opportunities for his leader but is looking further than just the GC. "It's no secret that we are going to the Giro d'Italia to ride the GC with Derek. We believe that with his abilities and physical capacities, we can do a really good GC with him. Of course, we want to win stages at the Giro too, and we've got a number of guys capable of doing that. There should be plenty of opportunities for breakaways to succeed this year, and we've got some really good guys to be part of that. Furthermore, there are a lot of punchy, uphill finishes this year that really suit Corbin."

Israel - Premier Tech recognizes that Gee is still relatively inexperienced in riding for the GC, so he will receive as much help as possible with that. "We felt that it was really important to surround Derek with experienced guys, and we’ve got quite a lot of depth when it comes to experience in our group, with the likes of Simon Clarke, Jakob Fuglsang, Jan Hirt, Nick Schultz, and Hugo Houle," says Bewley. "All of these guys have a history of riding in support of leaders at Grand Tours or riding GC themselves, so we felt it was important to have them here. They have been racing together a lot throughout the season already, really connecting as a group, and they have all prepared really well for this Giro. We are ready."