Derek Gee shocked cycling fans, and maybe himself, at the Critérium du Dauphiné when he finished fourth behind stage winner Primož Roglič on a tough summit finale.
Roglič triumphed on Friday’s first of three consecutive summit finish stages at the Critérium du Dauphiné, seizing the yellow jersey from Remco Evenepoel, who had begun the day with a 33-second lead over the Slovenian. The four-time Grand Tour winner now leads the Belgian by 19 seconds. Derek Gee continued to impress, securing fourth place in the stage and maintaining his fourth place in the general classification.
Gee was part of a 40-rider group chasing the last rider of the early breakaway, Romain Grégoire. Gee’s powerful effort led the group of favourites, eventually causing Evenepoel to be dropped. This allowed Roglič to bridge over to his teammate Vlasov and De Plus. Mikel Landa worked hard to minimize Evenepoel’s losses. Aleksandr Vlasov, Roglič, and Giulio Ciccone pushed ahead, with Gee chasing alongside Matteo Jorgenson and De Plus. As the groups approached the final kilometre, Evenepoel launched a solo pursuit to defend his yellow jersey.
Roglič overtook his teammate but couldn’t drop Ciccone until the last 200 metres, securing his second WorldTour victory of the season. Vlasov’s third place moved him up to fifth in the GC, just 31 seconds behind Gee, who is closing in on Jorgenson’s podium position. For Gee, it was foreign territory to be in the move on a summit finish.
“Maybe I even did too much work on the climb. I’ve never been in that position,” he said. “That was pretty cool. They started playing games, but usually I’m already gone at that point. It was awesome.”
The Israel – Premier Tech rider took a huge win just two days ago as well, his first WorldTour victory. At the 2023 Giro d’Italia, Gee became the talk of the town after he scored four second places. His breakaways made him one of the more popular riders at the Grand Tour, and cycling fans were excited to see what he would do. And the wait has been worth it: Friday’s stage has shown he’s levelled up since 2023.
What does that mean for the Tour de France? Gee has been selected for the Tour de France, along with fellow Canadian Hugo Houle. But will his recent results change the strategy for his first time at the Grand Boucle?
Most likely before Friday’s performance, the team must have been planning for a similar approach as his Giro in 2023: looking for stage win…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Canadian Cycling Magazine…