Derek Gee secures overall podium in Tour of the Alps

Derek Gee pulled off another impressive performance in the final stage of Tour of the Alps to secure his third place overall. Jakob Fuglsang finished sixth on the stage, while Matthew Riccitello moved up to ninth place in the general classification, helping IPT to win the team classification.

“Overall, this has been a really good day for the team”, Derek Gee said with a big smile after the stage.

“The day really worked out according to our plan. We kept the guys who were fighting for the podium close to us and on the final climb, I had good legs and as a bonus we managed to ride Matthew [Riccitello] into top 10 in the GC.”

After two chaotic stages, nobody knew how today’s short and hilly final day of the race would play out so when a group went away early on, Fuglsang was quick to get in the mix to be in the front in case Gee needed assistance later on.

“We thought it would be a good idea to have a rider in the front in case the race exploded again. I made it into the right move and in the end, we got a big enough gap to play for the victory and I gave it a go. Unfortunately, the final climb was just too steep for me at this point. However, I’m happy with how the legs felt today and now I’m looking forward to racing with this group in the Giro d’Italia next month”, Fuglsang explained.

In the group of the GC riders, Gee and Riccitello did well to control the situation and seal Gee’s podium spot despite a difficult start to the race earlier this week.

“It’s true that I didn’t have the best start to the race, but I tried to stay calm and just trust the process so I’m really glad that the legs got better every stage. It’s just so great to be racing with these guys and now we can take on the Giro d’Italia with a lot of confidence”, the 27-year-old Canadian said.

Sports director, Oscar Guerrero, too, was full of praise for how the team worked together this week.

“This year’s Tour of the Alps has been a great race for the team with the stage victory for Marco and the overall podium place for Derek as the main highlights. In fact, the whole team was amazing. We only raced with five riders for most of the race but all five played a crucial part in this success and winning the team classification really shows how strong this group has been throughout the whole race. I’m really happy with what I’ve seen.”