Midway via Canada’s recon of the World Championships combined relay course, Derek Gee had the sinking realisation that he would quickly be seeing an entire lot extra of the arduous circuit that loops via the hills behind Zurich.
“We have been reconning it with the TTT in thoughts after which swiftly, we realised – Wait, that is additionally the highway race course – in order that was a little bit daunting,” Gee smiled after finishing the combined relay on Wednesday afternoon. “It’s going to make for an attention-grabbing race on Sunday.”
Gee and his companions positioned seventh on their debut within the combined relay, however the Canadian squad could have loftier ambitions in Sunday’s highway race, the place Michael Woods will lead the road. Woods was a bronze medallist in Innsbruck six years in the past and he arrives in Switzerland buoyed by his stage victory on the Puerto de Ancares on the Vuelta a España.
“We’re all in for Mike and he’s on nice kind proper now. He’s coming off successful a Vuelta stage and he’s tremendous motivated,” Gee mentioned. “He’s medalled on the World Championships earlier than and on a very exhausting course too, so hopefully that bodes properly for the weekend.”
On paper, the 273km Zurich course is the hardest for the reason that Imola Worlds in 2020, and it would show much more demanding in observe. The 27km ending circuit over the climbs of Zürichbergstrasse and Witikonerstrasse affords few apparent factors of respite, and Gee expects the bunch to be whittled down significantly forward of the ultimate laps.
“It’s exhausting to check it to something I can consider – possibly the GP Montréal, as a result of it’s acquired the same quantity of elevation, however there are some actually exhausting and steep climbs right here,” Gee mentioned.
“I feel it’s going to be an actual sluggish burn. There’s nowhere to relaxation. You can attempt to save your staff, however guys will begin going out the again each lap properly earlier than it kicks off, as a result of it’s such a protracted race and there’s nowhere actually to benefit from sitting in. Even the descent is fairly technical, particularly with the peloton stringing out so. I feel it’s simply going to be actually, actually attritional and, properly, daunting.”
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Tadej Pogačar is the overwhelming favorite for this World Championships as he seeks so as to add the rainbow bands to the yellow and pink jerseys he has already claimed this 12 months. Gee agreed with that consensus given the character of the route – “There’s no hiding, so that is the type of course the place the strongest man has a very good shot” – although the Worlds can generally tackle a logic of its personal because the laps begin counting down.
“I feel everybody is aware of who the favorite is and the way he doubtless desires it to play out, however on the identical time there are such a lot of unknowns on the Worlds when it’s not your commerce staff,” Gee mentioned. “Teams are much more more likely to toss something on the wall and see what sticks, particularly when there’s a rainbow jersey on the road, so I think about there’ll be some fairly unorthodox racing.”
Season
After catching the attention along with his aggression as a neo-pro ultimately 12 months’s Giro d’Italia, Gee loved a high quality sophomore season at this degree in 2024. His spring marketing campaign was interrupted by a damaged collarbone at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, however he would make amends in the summertime, putting third total on the Critérium du Dauphiné and ninth on GC at his debut Tour de France.
Like many on this Olympic 12 months, Gee has struggled to seek out the identical kind within the latter a part of the season. His solely racing between the Paris Olympics and the Zurich Worlds got here on residence roads on the WorldTour races in Québec and Montréal, and he confessed that fatigue had been an element. It’s all a part of the training course of for a rider who spent a lot of his 20s targeted totally on the observe.
“It’s been exhausting to seek out the legs once more within the second half of the season, and I feel it’s about studying to handle what works for me,” Gee mentioned. “Doing an altitude camp, the Dauphiné and the Tour construct was an enormous load, and I feel possibly I used to be a bit too motivated with that kind and I didn’t relaxation correctly. There are all these little issues that you just be taught season by season.”
No matter how Gee’s season ends, ideas of that purple patch in June and July will maintain the 27-year-old via the winter as he builds in direction of 2025. “You at all times simply hope that’s your new final analysis and you may work up from there,” he mentioned.
“There’s at all times ups and downs, and it was the identical within the second half of final season after the Giro, once I did observe for the summer season. I by no means actually discovered these legs once more till this season, so it’s all simply studying. It’s robust however it’s additionally motivating for the years forward.”
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