Derek Gee climbs to fourth place overall in the Giro d’Italia

Derek Gee delivered an incredible performance on stage 16 of the Giro d’Italia, finishing fifth after a grueling day in the mountains, which saw him climb to fourth place in the general classification.

“I’m really happy. This was the first really big test, so I’m glad the legs came through,” an exhausted Gee said after the finish, struggling to catch his breath.

With more than 5000 meters of elevation and several hard climbs to overcome, the entire IPT team rallied around Gee to support him in the best possible way. Therefore, the team paid no interest in the early breakaways today. Instead, all focus was directed at the 27-year-old Canadian, who paid back his IPT teammates with a stellar ride on the final climb, dropping the majority of his GC rivals, including race leader Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates).

In fact, among the GC contenders, only Richard Carapaz (EF Education – EasyPost) managed to open a small gap on Gee in the final kilometers.

“I couldn’t follow Carapaz’s acceleration, so I just tried to ride my own pace to the top of the climb. I’m really happy with where I ended up, but there’s still a long way to go.”

IPT sports director Sam Bewley explained: “Everyone has been saying for months that the final week of the Giro would be decisive. It was important to be patient and bide our time. We had some bad luck in the early part of the race, but ultimately it’s Derek’s legs that have put him in this position. There are still big mountain stages to come, so hopefully, things continue in this direction.”