The Canadian national champion discusses his rise to stardom, keeping perspective and why home will always be where the heart is
If you were to look on the Lidl-Trek team bus a few hours before a race was due to start, you wouldn’t find Derek Gee scrolling on TikTok, or looking at his power data, or fiddling with his equipment. Instead, you might see him reading a historical fiction novel on his Kindle, or adding to the app on his phone which chronicles every tropical bird he’s seen, or watching clips of his favourite NBA team – the Denver Nuggets – latest game.
The Canadian rider is unique, both in his personality and his pathway to cycling’s top table. He is not an 18-year-old wunderkind that has been analysing his watts per kilo since his early teens. In fact, Gee didn’t even compete in his first professional bike race until he was 25. His rise to prominence in his sport has been rapid and extreme – it only takes a look at his impressive palmarès to come to this conclusion.
In his debut Grand Tour, the 2023 Giro d’Italia, Gee finished in the top-5 in six stages. The following year he won a stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné and finished in the top-10 overall at the Tour de France. Another victory came at the start of 2025 in O Gran Camiño, and he won the Canadian National Championships that same year by a margin of almost four minutes.
Image: Sean Hardy
It’s the sort of rise to stardom which might overwhelm some bike riders, but Gee is impressively grounded. His perception of time has been sharpened by the fact that he joined the professional ranks so late, and he is motivated to ensure that he stays there. Unlike many, Gee has had a taste of the alternative life he could be living if he hadn’t made it in sport.
“Until very recently, I didn’t think I would turn professional. I’m now going into my fourth year and it’s a realisation of ‘okay, you’re here now, and this is your one shot at doing it.’ When you’re old, retired and looking back, I don’t want to be thinking that I left a lot on the table. I’ve had to shift my mentality of being happy to be here, to trying to make the most out of it.”
Hailing from the outskirts of Ottawa, Canada, Gee admits that cycling was a “niche” sport where he grew up. It was a shared passion between him and his father – a keen racer in the Masters category – who would watch the Tour de France with him on television each summer. Many winters were spent on the home trainer due to freezing conditions outside. Canadian cycling legends like Steve Bauer inspired a young Derek, but the reality of making it to the pro ranks always seemed like a relatively impossible future.
I was probably six or seven when I realised I wanted to be a professional cyclist. It was from when I was a small kid, but obviously the belief comes and goes.
Image: Sean Hardy
After I went to Junior Worlds I stopped and kind of gave up on the pro dream. I went to university to study Life Sciences, which is basically like pre-Med. My goal was to become a doctor and I remember one time just sitting in a chemistry lab and having this moment of realisation that I missed riding my bike.
“I picked racing back up the next year when I joined the track program, but even in 2021, I didn’t think I would make it. I was already 24 and not many people go pro then.”
Once he was done setting records as part of the Canadian team pursuit squad at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Gee explains he was certain he didn’t want to go back to a life behind a desk: “I’d seen how much actual work university was, it was a motivator in ensuring cycling was viable. I didn’t want to go back to lectures and labs.
Okay, you suffer a lot on the bike and sometimes it’s hard, but if I’d gone back to school it would have been my hobby, not my career.
Image: Sean Hardy
Now aged 28, Gee stresses that it is not lost on him how fortunate he is to have a professional contract, but he also wants to focus on what comes next.
“It’s nice to never take it for granted. You see a lot of pros now who made it when they were 18 and it’s all they’ve ever known. I’ve already fulfilled my childhood dream and the goalposts keep moving, but it’s nice to keep that perspective.”
So where on the proverbial pitch are Gee’s goalposts in 2026? He has his eyes set on becoming a general classification star, eventually leading Lidl-Trek to a Grand Tour podium. While he might have made a name for himself chasing individual stage victories, the GC structure project is one that appeals to him, especially on a squad where he doesn’t feel too much pressure as the sole leader.
“It’s a nice balance here because we have such a multi-dimensional team. Like at the UAE Tour, I was the GC leader but then on other days I got to be part of a team that was winning in sprints and contribute to that. That was really cool,” Gee reflects.
“The level of success this team has reached in every discipline is impressive. The Grand Tour general classification seems like a really interesting project, especially with the signing of Juan [Ayuso] and the big goals the team has. To be a part of that is something that is very exciting to me.”
Scoring the slam dunk of a podium in the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia or Vuelta a España one day is what keeps Gee getting up and training everyday, but even if he reaches those lofty ambitions, he’ll always remember where he’s come from. The science lab at university, the afternoons watching the Tour with his dad, the home trainer sessions as the heavy snow fell outside, were all part of the making of Derek Gee.
“As well as getting a Grand Tour podium before I retire, I want to perform at GP Montreal. It would mean a lot to me, it’s two hours from where I grew up and with the home crowd, it holds a place in my heart. Home will always be special to me.”
Words by Rachel Jary
