Derek Gee consolidates fourth place in the Giro d’Italia

Derek Gee pulled off another impressive performance on stage 20 of the Giro d’Italia, staying with the main GC favorites to consolidate his fourth place in the general classification with only the final stage remaining.

“Obviously, when you’re in fourth place, you want the podium. But I had the fourth-best legs. Those guys were well above me today, so there was nothing I could do. I’m just happy to be here, in this position – especially when you consider the time lost at the start of the race,” Gee explained after the finish.

As the GC battle kicked off on the grueling gradients on Colle delle Finestre, Gee kept a cool head, maintaining his own pace and not trying to follow the explosive accelerations from race leader Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost).

“I didn’t really have the energy to think about what Del Toro and Carapaz were doing. I just did my own ride. It would have been suicide for me to try and go with those guys. With the kind of kick they have and their ability to recover from it, I would have been gone really, really quick.”

In the end, only Simon Yates (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) managed to distance the other GC riders, eventually racing into the pink jersey. Meanwhile, Gee did well to keep Del Toro and Carapaz in check on the final climb, finishing 11th on the stage to maintain his fourth place overall.

IPT sports director Sam Bewley said: “We knew that today could produce a real shake-up in the GC, and we expected it to be hard from the bottom of Colle delle Finestre – but maybe not as hard as it ended up being. Derek did a fantastic climb, an intelligent climb, and once again, he produced a great performance to consolidate his fourth place on GC as we head to Rome tonight.”

On Sunday, the Giro d’Italia concludes with a flat stage for the sprinters in the Italian capital.