Derek Gee laid down an early-season marker on Friday afternoon as he won the O Gran Camiño stage 3 individual time trial to move into the race leader’s yellow jersey with two stages remaining.
The Canadian rider posted a time of 23:17 for the challenging 15.6-kilometer course between Ourense and Pereiro de Aguiar to beat his nearest challenger by 17 seconds. More importantly, Gee finished 25 seconds ahead of overnight leader Magnus Cort and now sits five seconds ahead of the Danish rider on GC.
“Really, really happy,” he says. “I put a lot of pressure on myself to deliver on what was the expectation from the team – and myself – going into today, so I’m really happy. “We did some work on the TT bike over the winter and I wanted to start the year strongly in the discipline.”
This was a full circle moment for Gee. Three years ago – while a member of the IPT Academy squad – he was selected for O Gran Camiño and placed fifth in that edition’s stage against the clock, albeit on a different course. Without that performance, today’s victory may not have happened.
Gee adds: “This TT holds a special place in my heart because in 2022 my result in this race’s time trial is what helped me get my first pro contract. It was a hard one then and it was another hard one today!”
The 27-year-old last led a race at Critérium du Dauphiné in June, albeit his one day in yellow coincided with an individual time trial. On Saturday he’ll get to experience what it’s like leading the standings during a more conventional road stage, one that finishes on the category 3 Alto de Cebreiro after a big day of climbing.
“It’s uncharted territory but I’m looking forward to it,” Gee says.”Tomorrow will be a super hard stage and then the last day could be chaos! Magnus did a great TT today and there are a couple of guys here who are really, really good climbers, so it’s going to be interesting.”
Oscar Guerrero, IPT Sports Director, admitted he was confident that Gee would win today’s stage.
“Yes, I really expected this performance and result,” he says. “First, I saw in yesterday’s stage that he is in good shape and the motivation is there. Then, when we did the recon of the course today, it was clear it suited him very well. For me it was a good one for him and he did a great TT.”
