Canadian cyclist Derek Gee wins O Gran Camino race in Spain

The Canadian Press

· Posted: Mar 02, 2025 3:48 PM EST | Last Updated: March 2

Canadian cyclist Derek Gee won the O Gran Camino roadworthy contention successful Spain connected Sunday, finishing with a 35-second borderline implicit Italy's Davide Piganzoli.

The 27-year-old from Ottawa, riding for the Israel-Premier Tech team, moved into the wide pb of the five-stage contention Friday aft winning the idiosyncratic clip trial. And helium stretched the pb from 5 to 37 seconds aft finishing runner-up successful Saturday's stage.

He was 24th successful a ample radical successful Sunday's last signifier won by Denmark's Magnus Cort, who finished 3rd overall.

It's the archetypal wide signifier contention triumph of Gee's career.

"It's beauteous chill to triumph my archetypal GC (general classification)," said Gee. "I emotion this race, I wanted to triumph it coming successful — that was the extremity — but winning races is not easy. I'm overjoyed."

Israel-Premier Tech teammate Hugo Houle, from Sainte-Perpetue, Que., was 41st wide aft finishing 69th Sunday.

'They were truthful bully today'

Gee credited Houle and his different teammates — Daniel Lima, Marco Frigo, Pau Marti, Simon Clarke and Jakob Fuglsang — for their assistance successful securing the win.

"I was beauteous stressed going into it but I couldn't person asked for a amended team. I mean, I was astatine the beforehand each day," helium said. "They won each combat into each the important sectors, they controlled the breakaway and determination was astir nary accent due to the fact that they were truthful bully today. These are people motorcycle riders."

Sunday's finale covered 165.3 kilometres, ending up successful Santiago de Compostela aft a hard Category 3 ascent with 20 kilometres to spell followed by 3 challenging gravel sections.

Gee past led a contention astatine the Criterium du Dauphine past June successful France, spending 1 time successful the yellowish jersey coincided with an idiosyncratic clip trial.

Gee was promoted to Israel-Premier Tech's WorldTour squad from its academy successful May 2022. He signed a caller semipermanent woody successful June 2023 pursuing his breakout show successful his Grand Tour debut astatine the 2023 Giro d'Italia erstwhile helium finished 2nd 4 times and 4th twice.

He yet finished 22nd successful the Giro's last wide classification standings and was runner-up to Italy's Jonathan Milan successful the points contention and France's Thibaut Pinot successful the King of the Mountains standings.

Gee was besides honoured arsenic the Giro's "super combative rider." Gee followed that by finishing ninth wide successful past summer's Tour de France.

The Canadian is slated to pb the Israel-Premier Tech squad astatine this year's Giro, which runs May 9 to June 1.

Gee missed 2 months of racing past twelvemonth aft breaking his collarbone successful a clang successful Belgium.

He finished 44th successful past summer's Olympic roadworthy contention successful Paris and was the apical Canadian successful the idiosyncratic clip trial, placing 20th.

In September, Gee was 22nd successful the idiosyncratic clip proceedings astatine the UCI Road World Championships successful Zurich. He did not decorativeness the roadworthy race.

Gee is besides an accomplished way cyclist, coming 5th successful the squad pursuit astatine the Tokyo Olympics successful 2021, Canada's champion Olympic effect successful the lawsuit since 1932. In 2019, helium was portion of the Canadian squad that finished 4th successful the squad pursuit astatine the UCI Track World Championships.