Derek Gee keeps getting closer, and that only makes it harder to take. The Canadian has done more than anyone to enliven the Giro d'Italia over the past week, but for now, he continues to be rewarded with near misses and plaudits rather than stage victory and bouquets.
By now, it feels almost inevitable that "numero 135, Derek Gee" will feature in the roll call whenever race radio crackles into life to announce a breakaway, and that was the case once again on the road to Cassano Magnago on stage 14.
