Another day, another incredible ride by Israel – Premier Tech rider Derek Gee. On Friday, he rode a strong race to finish 4th in a tough, shortened stage. The Grand Tour rookie held his own with veteran French rider Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ), among others, and continues to impress cycling fans around the world.
The Escape Artist: Derek Gee comes within centimeters of winning first Giro stage
This, of course, comes after two previous second places. All of these results mean that he is suddenly second overall behind Jonathan Milan of Bahrain – Victorious, who is wearing the maglia ciclamino for leading the points competition. Yes, of course, Milan is an accomplished sprinter and has taken the bulk of his points from the fast finishes. But still, Gee now has 111 points to Milan’s 164.
Six stages remain at the Giro d’Italia
But there’s still a week of racing. The next few days are again hilly, followed by some flat stages and a couple more mountain days. But then a final time trial – just under 19km, in which Gee excels. The track star is very quick in the time trials, so if he’s feeling good, he could snag a decent result there. Usually, in the final time trials, only those who are vying for the overall will go full gas, but Gee could give it his all to get some more points. He was 50th in the opening time trial and 44th in the second. But again, only the GC riders and those who want to do well in the final time trial will be going hard. The rest of the tired legs in the bunch just want to make it to Rome the next day. Now, that being said, Milan is pretty quick in the time trials as well, but he may want to save his legs for the prestigious final stage.
Lots of points still up for grabs
The breakdown of points depends on the stage, in order to favour the sprinters. The first level, the flatter races, gives the top 20 riders points starting at 50 down to 1. The next tier, the top 15 get points from 25 to one, and finally, the third-level races give riders 15 to 1. The time trials, for example, fall into the latter category, awarding 15 points. There are also intermediate sprints to make things interesting. Gee went and snagged some of those on Saturday, which resulted in his total take being 41 points, bolstering the ones he got from his second place.
Pure heartbreak 💔
The Derek Gee show continues to deliver all the emotions this Giro.
Take a bow, Derek. You’re showing the world what you’re made of 👊
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🇮🇹 #Giro
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Canadian Cycling Magazine…