HIGH ACHIEVERS WEEKEND WRAP: Cyclist Derek Gee well prepared for second Giro d’Italia

By Martin Cleary

Derek Gee was a virtual unknown cyclist two years ago as he prepared for his first, three-week Grand Tour adventure.

In his 27 races before the 2023 Giro d’Italia, the Israel Premier Tech rider from Osgoode, ON., managed only two top-20 stage finishes – a 14th in the UAE Tour and a 19th in the Santos Tour Down Under.

But that was understandable as his main role was to help his teammates produce podium results or strong finishes.

In the first seven stages of the Giro, he maintained that support role, although he was 18th in Stage 5. But something happened in Stage 8 that would capture the imagination of the cycling world for the rest of the way.

Gee dared to push himself, the field and common thinking by taking chances and using opportunities to surge to the front of the peloton. It worked.

When all 21 stages of the Giro were complete, Gee was the talk of the event. He pushed hard to score his first Grand Tour stage win, but instead settled for a remarkable four second-place finishes. There also were two fourth-place finishes in Gee’s unexpected major-race emergence.

Gee’s grit and determination was unmatched and he earned individual and overall awards with that quality. He also was second in both the mountain classification and the points classification as well as 22nd in the general classification (overall).

On May 9, Gee returns to the Giro and it will be interesting to see how it will unfold for him and his Israel Premier Tech team. But this time, Gee will enter his third Grand Tour event fully prepared and optimistic.

In 2024, Gee was third overall in the Criterium du Dauphine with a stage victory as well as a third-place result. That set him up well for the Tour de France, where he was an incredible ninth overall with four top-10 showings, including a third in Stage 9. He was 20th in the individual time trial at the Olympics and 22nd in the time trial at the world championships.

In the past two months, Gee has strengthened his resume in advance of next month’s Giro and could challenge for a top-10 overall finish and more podium appearances.

For the first time in his career, Gee became an overall multi-stage race champion at the five-stage O Gran Camino, finishing with three top-10 stage results, including a first, a second and a 10th. At the seven-stage Tirreno-Adriatico, he was fourth overall with two sixth-place results.

In his final race preparation for the Giro, Gee finished the Tour of the Alps strong and was third overall on the strength of a third-place result in Stage 3 and a second in Stage 4. Israel Premier Tech also was first overall in the team category with riders placing third, sixth and ninth overall.

“It’s true that I didn’t have the best start to the race (24th and 22nd in the first two stages),” Gee said in an Israel Premier Tech press release about the Tour of the Alps. “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.”

Australia’s Michael Storer of Tudor Pro Cycling Team won the Tour of the Alps in 19 hours, 48 minutes and eight seconds for five stages. The Netherlands’ Thymen Arensman was 93 seconds back in second, while Gee took third and was 4:07 behind Storer.

The 2025 Giro starts May 9 with a 164-kilometre race from Durres to Tirana with three mountain challenges in the second half.

GEE-GEES’ ERIC CUMBERBATCH GOING TO SAINTS’ ROOKIE MINI-CAMP

Despite playing only the first four OUA regular-season football games for the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees in 2024, Eric Cumberbatch is attracting plenty of attention in draft season.

The fourth-year human kinetics/defensive back student-athlete is expected to be a mid- to high-round selection in the CFL Draft on Tuesday.

On the weekend, the Alexandria, ON, resident accepted an invitation to attend the rookie mini camp of the NFL’s New Orleans Saints.

Cumberbatch was one of the top performers at the recent CFL Combine, running the 40-yard sprint in 4.51 seconds, jumping 39 inches and completing the three-cone shuttle in 7.12 seconds.

In 2024, he played four games for the Gee-Gees and notched 10.5 tackles, one sack and one interception.

He had a breakout third season with 23 tackles and 19 assisted tackles for 32.5 points as well as one sack, two interceptions and four breakups. His stats earned him selection to the OUA first all-star team and U Sports All Canadian first-team status.

WARREN HASTINGS WINS FOURTH CONSECUTIVE JOCK RIVER RACE

For the fourth year in a row, Warren Hastings of Toronto has emerged as the fastest paddler to the finish line at the Upper Jock River Paddling Race.

Despite the unpleasant rainy conditions, which cancelled the awards ceremony, Hastings manoeuvred his kayak down the Jock in one hour and 23 seconds. It was the first time in his four wins he didn’t break the one-hour barrier.

The tandem canoe mixed team of Sophie Coupal and Mike De Abreau was second overall in 1:04.25, which left them 4:02 behind Hastings. Kayak solo entrant Brad Spooner was third in 1:05:30.

The other category award winners were: Gunther Krausbar, solo canoe, 1:07:17; Kevin Payan, Stand Up Paddling, 1:26:11; Simon and Emilie Gauthier, adult/child, 1:20:26; and Peter, Jude and Zoe Meldrum, family, 1:16:10.

Olympian Sophia Jensen and her father Olaf placed ninth overall and were third in the tandem canoe mixed class in 1:08:19. Olympic bronze medallist Thomas Hall and Mathea Stevens were 16th overall in 1:13:40 and sixth in the tandem canoe mixed division.

NAKKERTOK’S JASMINE LYONS MAJOR AWARD FINALIST

Jasmine Lyons of Ottawa and the Nakkertok Nordic Ski Club is a finalist for the Jim Urquhart Student-Athlete of the Year Award at the University of New Hampshire.

Lyons, who competed in her fourth NCAA nordic ski championships in 2025, was the women’s 20-kilometre freestyle silver medallist at the NCAA East championships and was selected to the Nordic All-East team.

The biomedical science student was team captain in 2023-24 and a four-time All-American, including first-team status for NCAA silver and bronze medals in 2023 and 2022 respectively. She also was the university’s nordic performer of the year in 2022 and 2023 and the rookie of the year in 2021.

RUGBY CANADA SELECTS FIVE OTTAWA PLAYERS TO NATIONAL TEAMS

Rugby Canada has named an expanded 36-player roster for the Pacific Four Series next month as it prepares for the Women’s Rugby World Cup from Aug. 22 to Sept. 27 in England.

Forwards Alexandria Ellis of Barrhaven Scottish and Stade Francois Paris, and Alysia Comtois of the University of Ottawa, and back Claire Gallagher of the Leicester Tigers and formerly with the University of Ottawa will train for the three games: Friday against the United States in Kansas City, May 16 versus New Zealand in Christchurch, and May 23 against Australia in Brisbane.

Meanwhile, University of Ottawa products Jamie Armstrong and Elias Hancock will represent Canada at the HSBC SVNS men’s rugby sevens world championship weekend Saturday and Sunday in Los Angeles.

Canada, which qualified for the final stop of the men’s sevens tour by placing third after three rounds in the challenger series, will face Uruguay, Ireland and Germany.

Hancock will play for Mumbai Dreamers in the inaugural Rugby Premier League starting June 1 in India.

LAST, BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST

· Ottawa Curling Club’s Rachel Homan will be the Team Canada 1 captain for the inaugural 2026 Rock League, a professional curling league with six elite mixed-gender global franchises. The league will provide the world’s top curlers with a salary and prize money. The other captains are Brad Jacobs, Team Canada 2; Bruce Mouat, Team Europe 1; Alina Paetz, Team Europe 2; Chinami Yoshida (Team Asia Pacific) and Korey Dropkin (United States of America).

· Jada Baptiste, a women’s apprenticeship coach with the Carleton University Ravens football team, has been selected to participate in the Canadian Football League’s 2025 Diversity in Football program. She’ll attend the Ottawa Redblacks training camp next month and will be part of the team’s football operations department.

· Thomas Nobbs of Ottawa placed seventh overall at the Vancouver Sun Run, covering the 10-kilometre course in 29 minutes, 18 seconds. He was timed at 14:35 for the first five kilometres. Sam Atkin of Longmont, Great Britain won in 28:09.

· ROC Swimming distance freestyler Olivier Risk of the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds is one of 40 athletes named to the U Sports national team for the inaugural Canada-Great Britain Dual Meet in Loughborough, England, July 3-4.

· After winning the women’s doubles title at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany, top-seeded Ottawa’s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe lost in the first round of the Mutua Madrid Open 6-3, 6-3 to Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia and Shuai Zhang of China.

· Defenceman Quinn Beauchesne scored one goal and added one assist to help Canada win all four round-robin games and finish first in its preliminary pool at 4-0 at the world men’s U18 hockey championship in Frisco and Allen, Texas. Beauchesne, who plays for Guelph in the OHL, and Canada have advanced to Wednesday’s quarterfinals.

· Triathlon Canada has named Noémie Beaulieu of Gatineau to its national team roster for 2025.