HIGH ACHIEVERS WRAP: Derek Gee earns first podium finish at Tour de France

By Martin Cleary

All the world is a stage for Derek Gee – a cycling stage that is.

At the 2023 Giro d’Italia, the Osgoode, ON., rider brought glory to his team, Israel-Premier Tech, and himself with second-place finishes in four stages and threatened another two podium results with a pair of fourth-place showings.

At this year’s Criterium du Dauphine, he reached the podium twice with his inaugural stage victory and a third-place result. He also notched one fourth- and one fifth-place standing.

Competing in his first Tour de France, which is currently underway, Gee placed third in Stage 9 on Sunday and helped teammate Pascal Ackermann to a third-place finish on Tuesday’s flat Stage 10.

Gee’s gritty achievement on Sunday was satisfying for many reasons, especially since he survived the gruelling and challenging 14 sections of gravel road.

Pedalling as hard as he could and heartily encouraged by Israel-Premier Tech sports director Steve Bauer in the team car, Gee’s third-place finish on Sunday and his 53rd-place result on Tuesday (same time as winner Jasper Philipsen of Alpecin-Deceuninck) lifted him into ninth in the General Classification standings.

“It was a real day out today,” Gee said in a team press release about his Sunday race. “Of course, I would have liked to finish a couple of places higher up, but we raced on the front foot all day and I think we can be happy with that. Hopefully, the win will come soon.”

Gee managed the 33.2 kilometres of gravel road well and became part of a group that split from the peloton.

“It was only in the last 20 kilometres that I kind of knew we would make it all the way and even then, we weren’t really sure,” he added. “I tried to give it a big dig on the uphill section into the crosswind, but then Jasper Stuyven (Lidi-Trek) came with a really good counter and got a gap.

“Luckily, we managed to bring him back, but we brought him back quite late, so it just ended up in a sprint and I missed out by just a little bit.”

Despite the disappointment of not seeing Gee post his first Grand Tour victory, Bauer shook hands with team officials in the car a few seconds after Gee finished to celebrate the team’s first Tour podium of this year.

“The guys rode a brilliant race today (Sunday),” Bauer said. “I said to the guys this morning that this is the stage where we go all in and they did. Derek Gee was so strong, Jakob Fuglsang was covering all the moves in the chase group and behind Pascal Ackermann and the other boys were right up there.

“I’m proud of how we raced today (Sunday). We’re getting closer – fourth yesterday (Ackermann on Saturday in Stage 8), third today (Sunday), that win is coming.”

Gee’s third-place result led into Monday’s first day off on the tour.

JONATHAN DAVID PLAYS BIG ROLE IN CANADA REACHING COPA SEMIS

Forward Jonathan David of Gloucester and his teammates were scheduled to play World Cup champion Argentina on Tuesday night in one of the most significant men’s matches in Canadian soccer history.

Canada advanced to the COPA America semifinals at MetLIfe Stadium in Rutherford, New Jersey, on Friday with a dramatic 4-3 penalty-kick decision over Venezuela in the quarterfinals. The quarter-final game in Dallas ended 1-1 after regulation time and immediately went to penalties.

At the 13th minute, David took a quick pass down the sideline, moved sharply to the Venezuelan net and made a quick feed to Jacob Shaffelburg, who scored Canada’s only goal.

David, who counted one goal in group play, played all 90 minutes and took three shots, but didn’t score. Canadian head coach Jesse Marsch selected David to take the first penalty in the scheduled five-round tiebreaker and he converted, drawing the national team even with Venezuela at 1-1.

Canada trailed throughout the penalty series (1-0, 2-1, 3-2), but Ismael Kone decided the issue with the game-winning goal in the sixth round for a 4-3 margin. Former Ottawa Fury goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau made a save to setup the opportunity.

OTTAWA HUNT WINS MEN’S CLASS A INTERSECTIONALS TITLE

The Ottawa Valley Golf Association men’s intersectional team competition has been a two-club race since 2002 in the top A division. But the host Royal Ottawa almost upset the apple cart on Sunday.

Ottawa Hunt finished in first place with 44 points for the seventh time in the past 21 competition years, while defending champion Rideau View was third at 25 points and missed an opportunity for its 16th title in that time frame.

Royal Ottawa, which last won the men’s A class title in 1983, topped the standings with 26 points at the halfway point, while the Hunt was in second place at 23 points. But when Tyler Stone and Ben Bell counted back-to-back six points each and their Royal Ottawa opponents only had a total of one point, the Hunt moved ahead 35-27 and didn’t lose the lead over the final three golfers.

The Royal Ottawa completed the team competition in second place with 39 points, while Camelot was fourth at 12.

Scoring six points (two points each for outscoring their three opponents) were: Maxx Rochette, Dwight Reinhart, Stone and Bell, all Hunt; DJ Robertson, Jayson Ross, Carter Trevisani and Brendan Kuffner, all Royal Ottawa; and Chris Collins, Rideau View.

The winners of the other 15 divisions were: Carleton, men’s B, 50 points; Eagle Creek, men’s C, 35 points; Pembroke, men’s D, 41 points; Renfrew, men’s E, 37 points (won tiebreaker over Brockville); Rockland, men’s F, 41 points; Perth, men’s G, 48 points; Kingsway, men’s H, 35 points; Canadian, men’s I, 39 points; Whitetail, men’s J, 39 points; Glengarry, men’s K, 36 points; Gatineau, men’s L, 43 points; Champlain, men’s M, 44 points (won tiebreaker over Stonebridge); Oaks of Cobden, men’s N, 51 points; Irish Hills, men’s O, 28 points; and Rideau Glen, men’s P, 26 points.

ISAIAH IBIT IN SECOND AT ONTARIO JUNIOR GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP MIDPOINT

Isaiah Ibit of Camelot Golf and Country Club is in second place at the halfway point of the 72-hole Ontario boys’ junior golf championship at Otter Creek Golf Club.

Ibit, who will be attending Kent State University as a freshman in August, fired his second straight three-under-par 69 for a six-under 138. He trails leader Jager Pan of Station Creek Golf Club, who sits at eight-under 136, after rounds of 66-70.

Avery Nordman of the Canadian is in 10th place following the first 36 holes of the 72-hole Ontario girls’ junior golf championship at the Beverly Golf Club.

Nordman carded back-to-back rounds of one-over-par 72 and is alone in 10th at two-over 144. Keira Hou of Ottawa is tied for 11th at 74-71 for a three-over 145, while Serena Zhang of Ottawa shares 25th at 73-76 for a seven-over 149.

SPRINTERS RECORD DOUBLE WINS AT ONTARIO MASTERS TRACK

The Ottawa Lions Track and Field Club was represented by a small group of eight sprinters and middle-distance runners at the Ontario masters championships, but it made a big impact.

The Lions produced 14 medals from the two-day championships – seven gold, four silver and three bronze.

Sprinters Wendy Alexis and Danette Nearing-Guibord sparked the Lions by winning their respective 100- and 200-metre finals in the women’s 65 and women’s 60 classes.

Alexis, who has won 30 Canadian masters sprint titles, ran world-class times, taking the women’s 65 100 metres in 14.44 seconds (third fastest in her age group on the globe this year) and the 200 metres in 30.08 seconds (second best in the world this season).

Nearing-Guibord, a six-time national champion, won the women’s 60 100 metres in 17.68 seconds and the 200 metres in 38.70 seconds.

Andrew Heffernan also was a double gold medallist, capturing the men’s 35 division 800 and 1,500 metres, while Liz Maguire was the women’s 55 champion over 5,000 metres.

The Lions’ other medallists were: Gilles Frenette, men’s 45, second in both 800 and 1,500 metres; Mike McInerney, men’s 55, second in the 1,500 metres; Lionel Nahum, men’s 50, second in the 200 metres and third in the 100 metres; and Michael Conway, men’s 40, third in both the 200 metres and 800 metres.

SEASON ON LINE FOR NEPEAN KNIGHTS JUNIOR B LACROSSE TEAM

The Nepean Knights have a critical junior B lacrosse game scheduled for Thursday night at the Howard Darwin Arena. The Knights are facing playoff elimination in the Ontario Junior B Lacrosse League’s second round, after dropping the first two games of their best-of-five series to Kahnawake Hunters.

Nepean lost the first two games 9-6 and 5-4 in overtime and must win the next three games to advance to the next round. In their first playoff round, the Knights defeated West Durham Ironheads 12-2, 12-4 and 8-0.

In their regular season, the Knights were first in the East Division (Far) at 17 wins, two losses and one tie, scored 230 goals and allowed only 131 goals.

The Nepean Knights junior C team was stretched to the limit to win its first Ontario Junior C Lacrosse League best-of-five playoff round over the North Shore Kodiaks.

Gabriel Carty scored two goals, including the winner, and added one assist as Nepean edged North Shore 7-6 in the fifth and deciding game. The other Knights’ goals came from John Collins-Williams, Kyle Cameron, Colin McKinnon, Callan Dent, and Tyson Sweet. Cameron also had three assists and Michael Murawsky contributed two assists.

Nepean, which was fifth in the eight-team provincial league at 11-10, trailed the series 2-1, but defeated North Shore 6-4 and 7-6 in the final two games.