Canadian cyclist derek-gee-interview-from-dauphine-to-the-tour

June 19/24 5:18 PM – Derek Gee Interview – From Dauphine to the Tour

Posted by Editor on 19/06/24

Earlier this month, Derek Gee (Israel Premier Tech) became only the second Canadian (after David Veilleux, in 2013) to take the leader’s jersey at the Critérium du Dauphiné when he won stage 3. Gee finished third overall after finishing. in the top 5 in all three final stages, each with a mountaintop finish.

Stage win and overall lead after stage 3 in Dauphiné

Derek will not defend his national champion’s time trial jersey this year as he has been selected for the Tour de France squad. We spoke to him at his home in Andorra, where he is training for the Tour.

Canadian cyclist: The start of your season was a bit uneven due to the big crash you had (at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in February). Did you originally intend to ride the Dauphiné, or was that a change after you had to sit out some races while you recovered?

Derek Gee: The original plan was to ride the Classics and then a big break, and then the altitude and the Dauphiné. Obviously the classics were disrupted… the racing between the crash and the Dauphiné was what changed. Once I recovered I got some racing days and when I got back up to altitude everything was back on track as per the original plan for the year.

CC: After a big crash and having your plans thrown off course, there has to be some nervousness going into a big race like the Dauphiné, right?

DG: There were definitely some nerves, but I had done a few races beforehand and I felt like I was getting back on track; I had a very good training camp. So nervous, because the Dauphiné is such a big race, but I was confident that my form would be good. Not so good, but good!

CC: It was a bit like last year’s Giro, when you raced well every day, even though there were quite big mountains. Let’s start with your stage win.

DG: That was pretty cool. We rode for Dylan Teuns that day, but he just called on the final climb and said: ‘I’m not feeling great today guys, give it a try’. So I just took the opportunity. When I crossed the line you could tell I was quite shocked, but I’m happy that I could finally get my first win in Europe.

CC: You could see during the race in the last kilometer that there was an attack from one of your teammates, which was taken out quite quickly, and then everyone looked at each other and you just left.

DG: It was Krists Neilands who went… funny enough I heard someone shout ‘Derek, go!’ as soon as he came back, to counterbalance, so did I. It turns out it was Hugo (Houle) on the radio cheering me on because he thought I was Krists! So he (Hugo) was just encouraging Krists, thinking it was me, and I was like, ‘Oh, I think he wants me to contradict.’ So I just went for it. And it worked.

CC: So last year you achieved four second places in the Giro; the Dauphiné is obviously not a big tour, but it is your first victory and it is a big race.

DG: It was nice to have come second so many times to get the win, and the Dauphiné is a pretty big race… one of the most important one-weeks and one of the most important Tour builders. It was nice as an own result, but it is also nice as a confidence boost going into the Tour.

CC: There were some big mountain days after stage 3 and some big names came to the fore in the race. What was it like to literally ride into the last kilometer of the stages with the leaders in those big mountains?

DG: It was quite surreal to see the names there. The goal going into it was to try for the rankings, but it was more of ‘let’s see if you can do a top-15’. That was the goal, a top-15, and it was very pressure-free from the team. Just race it to the line every day and see how you finish.

The plan was always to just race to the line, but it turned out there weren’t many guys left at that point. I was with some pretty big names, so that’s pretty cool to look back on.

CC: Let’s look forward to the Tour. You’ve ridden a Grand Tour before, but maybe the Tour de France is a little different?

DG: You could say that! The biggest race in the world, so there are definitely a few more nerves going into the Tour than queuing at the Giro.

CC: Your team has made it clear that there will be no pressure on you to become a classification rider this year; that it will be more about stage results.

DG: Yes. That has been the plan since the beginning of this year; If I end up in the Tour team, the goal is to ride stages. They kept it that way, and that’s great, because I think a classification stage in the Tour is a bit of an undertaking; it’s something you have to plan from the start of the season. Hopefully, if the legs are as good as in the Dauphiné, that will help me to compete for stages. I’m just going to go at it aggressively and hope to come away with a podium.

CC: Are there specific phases you focus on?

DG: Not really. I think the Dauphiné just opened up a few more possible stages. At the Giro I was in the high mountain breakaways, but realistically I wouldn’t win them if there was a real climber there. Now I feel like I can be more competitive in multi-stage breakaways. And of course stages like the gravel stage (stage 9) will be interesting. It really opens the door for me to be competitive in any breakaway.

CC: Now that you have some fame as an ‘escape man’, do you find it more difficult to take breaks?

DG: I haven’t ridden a Grand Tour since the Giro last year, so we’ll see after a few stages of the Tour! But I don’t think it’s the easiest thing in the world to get into a breakaway in the Tour. I don’t think I’ll be too noticeable. Everyone has their own goals, their own ambitions… we’ll see. Maybe some people will try to follow me in the breaks, but we’ll see what the dynamics are after the race starts.

CC: It’s Nationals this week, but you won’t be there to defend your time trial jersey. How disappointing is that?

DG: The timing is difficult; So far that hasn’t been a problem because I wasn’t on any Tour list. But it’s hard to miss Nationals; it’s a pretty special race. And winning and wearing the maple leaf is something very special… I would love to have that road race jersey one day, because I think lining up at all the road races with the maple leaf on another level is then wearing the (time trial) skinsuit. But I have a lot of teammates, so hopefully one of them can come back with it.

CC: What does your schedule look like between now and the Tour?

DG: I now live in Andorra; it is not super high, 1700 meters. So I will stay here until the start of the Tour. I will stay in Europe until Quebec-Montreal. My big goal for the end of the season is that things go well in Quebec-Montreal.

(Note: The Olympic team won’t be announced for another week or so, but we understand Derek will be heading to Paris).