The big but unknown question for the Giro d'Italia? A Canadian called Derek Gee-West

Wednesday, 06 May 2026 at 20:31

Follow IDL Pro Cycling on Google

Stay up to date with the best cycling news by making us a preferred source on Google.

At Lidl-Trek, the plan for the Giro d'Italia is clear: full Italian flair, with Giulio Ciccone given three weeks of freedom to attack and Jonathan Milan lining up for the sprint stages. For the overall classification, sports director Gregory Rast has cautiously spoken of a top-five finish — but can Derek Gee-West actually deliver that?

Gee finished fourth in last year's Giro, then riding for Israel-Premier Tech under his pre-marriage name. That team, as we now know, no longer exists in its original form. Gee was without doubt the most prominent rider to walk away from that project, leaving him without a team for the best part of six months.

Lidl-Trek moved quickly. Now wearing the Canadian champion's jersey, Gee-West heads to the Giro in search of a repeat performance. The question is whether he can match his 2025 level after a turbulent six months and a mid-season transfer. "It was a strange year, but I came back to racing at the UAE Tour and my level was already pretty good there," he said at the Tour of the Alps.

In that same conversation with IDL Pro Cycling, Gee-West was candid about his concerns. Illness at the Tour of Catalonia disrupted his Giro build-up, and his twelfth place at the Tour of the Alps was a sign that he was not yet at his best. "I'm not worried, and my first months here have been really good. There's so much experience in this team — the level is very high."

Continue reading below the photo

Derek Gee-West

How Gee-West stumbled into life as a GC rider

That Gee-West starts the Giro as team leader despite a compromised build-up says a great deal about Lidl-Trek's belief in the 28-year-old Canadian. He was barely known to most people in 2022, until one Giro in 2023 changed everything. The then-emerging Gee stole the show with seven breakaway attempts, four of which ended with a second place on the day.

"No Grand Tour will ever top the 2023 edition for pure enjoyment," Gee-West told the Giro's official channels earlier this year. "That year we had no sprinter and no GC man, so there were zero expectations, zero pressure. I had total freedom to attack almost every day. It was incredible — a situation I don't expect to find myself in again."

Because in 2024 he more or less accidentally finished third at the Critérium du Dauphiné, and then very casually placed ninth on his Tour de France debut. A GC rider was born, the scale of his engine suddenly plain to see. "I focus on the classification now, so you enjoy it slightly less. But when it works, the reward is enormous," he described his current role with refreshing honesty.

Continue reading below the photo

Gee finished fourth in the Giro in 2025

Lidl-Trek measured in their Giro ambitions for Gee-West

At Lidl-Trek — which Gee-West has described as "a huge organisation" — the time has come to deliver, again at his favourite Grand Tour. His ideal build-up could not be replicated after the physical setbacks, but is he ready nonetheless? "The dream is a podium place — that's what I'm working towards," he said ambitiously earlier this year.

Sports director Rast is aiming more modestly for a top five. "Derek has had a difficult start to the season. He began well with a top ten at the UAE Tour, but then he got seriously ill around the Tour of Catalonia. In the Tour of the Alps he showed some signs of life, which gives us optimism," said the 46-year-old Swiss.

The hope is that Gee-West will grow into the race. "Other riders might weaken during a Grand Tour, but we believe that with this build-up Derek can still fight for the top five. It's not all about the final week either — you can't lose ten minutes on Blockhaus — but we expect to see him getting stronger as the race goes on."

The dream Gee-West described in April remains intact: "I dream of a podium place."

Read also

Write a comment

Bram van der PloegEditor-in-chief

Bram van der Ploeg (35) is the proud founder of In de Leiderstrui, IDL Pro Cycling's parent site, launched in 2018. Finally, he could create stories about the sport he had followed since childhood. He is the editor-in-chief on paper, but prefers to be with his recorder next to a rider, a team bus, or in the mud at a cyclocross race. Every year, from February to the end of May, Bram follows the entire Italian cycling season, from the Trofeo Laigueglia to the Giro d'Italia, with the grand finale in October in Lombardy. During that time, he lives in Tuscany, where he has since come to call Italy his 'home'.

Bram van der Ploeg | Lindkedin | Email

See author's posts

IDL-productions

Glasgow set to shine as World Cup demand outstrips expectations and Mason eyes first home cyclocross race

Pogačar, Vingegaard and Van Aert went faster again in 2026... except when they didn't

Team GB dominate, China on the rise, Lavreysen the best ever? Five takeaways from the 2026 Track World Championships

Track World Championships day 2: A golden day for Team GB, Levreysen goes 2 for 2, and Kopecky eliminates the competition

Rumours, speculation and guesswork: 2027 Tour de France route will be revealed live on October 22 in Paris

Latest Cycling News

Alberto Contador thinks 2027 Tour de France will be different: 'Pogačar is only this good because of Vingegaard'

Vote for the best mens rider of the 2026 cycling season: Pogačar, Pidcock, Vingegaard, McNulty, and more

Brand takes European title after Schreiber disqualification: 'It's definitely the strangest one I've ever won'

Former cyclocross star and Indurain's lead-out man, now 62: 'Struggling with an opponent he can’t shake'

Bas Tietema chats with Wout Poels about why he's staying with Unibet Rose Rockets for one more year

Popular Cycling News

99 steps await the European Cyclocross Championship competitors: 'There’s no hill quite like it'

Cameron Mason brushes off Vanthourenhout's angry abuse : 'A taste of his own medicine'

Video shows Vanthourenhout lashing out at Brit Cameron Mason after mistake costs him the win at Middelkerke

Wout van Aert's 2027 Calendar | There is one big title missing from his list of wins...