It’s been a series of firsts for Derek Gee (Israel-PremierTech) at the Critérium du Dauphiné - first WorldTour stage win, first time wearing a leader’s jersey and after today, the first time on a final GC podium at a WorldTour race.
Every day the Canadian rider surprised everyone, himself included, and he admits that he “was nervous, waiting for the legs to give out.” But the legs held on almost until the end, and long enough to claim third overall at the Tour de France warm-up stage, 38 seconds behind Primož Roglič (Bora-Hansgrohe).
After winning the third stage, with a double attack up to Les Estables, the Canadian took over the leader’s yellow, briefly for one day, before dropping to fourth overall after the time trial. But he continued to battle, finishing fifth and moving up to third overall after the Queen Stage, 1:13 behind leader Roglič, and only 11 seconds down from second place, Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease A Bike).
Sunday’s final day of racing delivered on the promise of the third act of the Alpine trilogy with 3,640 metres of climbing on the 152.5km stage. The thrilling showdown happened on the final ascent of the race, the Plateau des Glieres, when Roglic could not respond to an attack by Carlos Rodríguez (Ineos Grenadiers). Immediately, Gee and Jorgenson jumped on the Spaniard’s wheel, and Gee even put in a brief attack.
“I was suffering on the final climb but as soon as I saw Roglič get dropped I thought ‘maybe I have good legs today’ so I gave it a shot. Matteo said he was on the limit and couldn’t pull through and pulled off and then I was immediately on the limit. Rodríguez and Jorgenson rode away and I couldn’t do anything about that but I was really happy with the legs.”
Gee crossed the line in third place on the stage won by Rodríguez.
“After the line, I was suffering so much I couldn’t enjoy it but now, it’s all starting to sink in. There will be a lot of reflection after this. Right now I am just enjoying it as it is. But, it’s been really cool."
The 26-year-old rider will be making his debut at the Tour de France in three weeks. Will he be focused on stage wins or the general classification?
His DS Daryl Impey told reporters at the stage 8 start, that Gee can be a GC rider but only time will tell if that means one-week stage races or grand tours.
“Grand tours, we don't know yet because it's it's difficult to say after three weeks. I believe he has the engine to do it, but I think it's about going through the process now.”
“I think he's pretty similar to a guy like Geraint Thomas. He's a guy who can climb well, he's tall, he can time trial well, he rides well in the flats, enjoys the classics as well. He's pretty much got the same engine as well, so he's very interesting.”
While he can provide instructions and details about race routes and his rivals, Impey wants to help Gee realize that he's at a big moment in his career.
“This is maybe one of his career-defining moments that a rider can have and just supporting him,” he said. “I'm trying to encourage him to go off his feeling because I don't know what's inside him, [that] feeling at the end. If he's feeling good, I don't want to be a guy that says, ‘play it safe’. I want him to also go on natural instinct because naturally over the past few days, he's already shown he can race on instincts.”
