DEREK GEE
Sport: Road Cycling
Event: Men’s Individual Time Trial, Men’s Road Race
Age: 26 (27 as of Aug. 3)
Hometown: Osgoode
Residence: Girona, Spain
Local Club: Ottawa Bicycle Club
Second Olympics
Instagram: @derekgee97
VIEW DEREK’S COMPETITION SCHEDULE HERE.
By Adam Beauchemin
Derek Gee can’t get enough of France, and for good reason. After earning a remarkable top-10 overall finish at the Tour de France and a podium position at the Critérium du Dauphiné before that, the 26-year-old phenom from Ottawa will make it three major French cycling events in a row when he competes in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Gee previously raced in track cycling at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago, and now he’ll make his first Olympic appearance on the road for the men’s individual time trial, followed by the men’s road race alongside fellow Ottawan and Israel Premier-Tech pro teammate Mike Woods.
“Derek’s a fellow Ottawa boy, and I’m really proud that he’s made the (Olympic) spot. He’s been racing so well,” Woods said in an interview with the Ottawa Sports Pages last week. “It’s going to be really special to be racing with him, and especially as I really think he’s the future of Canadian cycling.”
Gee will be racing in familiar territory as he’ll head into the Olympics fresh off of a spectacularly successful first-go at the Tour de France. Gee placed ninth in the general classification standings and became only the third Canadian to finish in the top-10 at the Tour and the first since 2010.
Gee’s highest finish in the Tour came when he placed third in the ninth stage, a gruelling 199-kilometre test that featured 32 kilometres of gravel road.
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“Just to line up [at the Tour de France] this year in Florence was a dream come true,” Gee wrote in an Instagram post on Monday. “After three weeks of the hardest racing of my life, I’m so proud to come away from my first Tour in the top 10.”
Read More: HIGH ACHIEVERS WRAP: Cyclist Derek Gee makes remarkable Tour de France debut, Olympics on tap
Gee warmed up for the Tour de France in early June at the Critérium du Dauphiné — another French annual cycling event — where he placed third overall.
Gee turned heads in the biking world last year when he made his debut appearance in a cycling Grand Tour at the Giro D’Italia where he placed second in four different stages and was awarded the prize for combativity.
“He’s just upped his game and made me extra proud,” Gee’s teammate Woods underlined.
Read More: Mike Woods missed Tour, but savours ‘really special’ chance to race in France for third Olympics
Gee started racing professionally in 2021 and joined Woods at Israel Premier-Tech in 2023. While this will be his Olympic debut on the road, he is no stranger to the Summer Games.
Gee competed in the velodrome with the Canadian men’s pursuit team, which finished fifth in Tokyo for Canada’s highest placement in the event since 1932.
Fellow Ottawa Bicycle Club products Vincent de Haître and Ariane Bonhomme were also part of the men’s and women’s pursuit teams at the Tokyo Games.
Read More: Ariane Bonhomme switches from rookie to veteran leader for second Olympics
Don Moxley, who coached the trio as teenagers, said OBC’s program often focused on track cycling rather than road cycling to better develop his cyclists’ sprinting abilities.
“The track developed speed and skills to a high level,” he explained to the Ottawa Sports Pages. “We have endurance riders, but we try to get them fast enough so that they are the best sprinter in the group.”
This track-to-road approach mirrors Gee’s evolution in the sport. The rider from Osgoode is renowned for his sprinting prowess, as evidenced by his second-place finish in the points classification — sometimes dubbed the sprint classification — at last year’s Giro.
Moxley said Gee has always had a knack for ramping up his speed on wheels.
“He was pretty young, but he was doing the same thing — he’d break away and time trial his way to a finish,” signalled Moxley, who recalls one race in Charlevoix, QC where Gee won the whole event on a breakaway sprint.
“He always had a motor,” he added.
Gee’s Olympics will begin the morning after the Opening Ceremonies with the individual time trial. He’ll then compete in the road race on his birthday, Aug. 3, when he’ll turn 27.
The men’s road race course in Paris will cover a total of 273 km and features 2,800 metres of climbing and 13 named ascents. Riders will have to maneuver over cobblestone roads and rolling landscapes as they race against a backdrop of iconic Paris landmarks including the Eiffel Tower, Les Invalides and the Château de Versailles.
“I’m unbelievably excited to represent Canada for my second Olympic Games in Paris this summer,” Gee said in Cycling Canada’s Olympic team announcement. “Tokyo 2020 was an experience of a lifetime and was a real privilege to race with the maple leaf on my back on the world’s biggest stage.
“Having spent some time in France already this year and seeing the build up, I can’t wait to experience the atmosphere in Paris this summer. I think it’s truly going to be unparalleled, especially at the cycling events.”
COMPETITION SCHEDULE:
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