On Tuesday, as I spoke with Derek Gee-West, we had a very fitting interruption. Some birds flew into the room he was in during our video call. The birder quickly identified them as house sparrows.
Gee-West is in Dénia, Spain, with Lidl-Trek’s January camp. Since he’s a late addition to the squad, he’s getting set up on his bikes, which has included aero testing on his time trial bike on a velodrome. The team is generally focused on training in preparation for the season ahead. (For a few, racing starts in less than a week at the Tour Down Under.)
The rider from Osgoode, Ont., seemed relaxed as he sported a Lidl-Trek branded hoodie. Our talk ranged from the challenges of the second half of 2025 as he couldn’t race because of a contact dispute with his former team, the hurried process of getting up to speed with this new team and his national champions jersey, which has caused a bit of a kerfuffle.
This interview has been condensed for clarity.
On Jan. 6, the announcement came out that you joined Lidl-Trek. Why was that the right day for the announcement?
There’s just a whole bunch of paperwork. Usually this is done far in advance, but I joined the team really late. Then there were the holidays. It just takes some time.
Can you tell me anything about how you came in contact with the team and how the wheels were set in motion for this new position at Lidl-Trek?
A lot of it is obviously behind the scenes stuff with my agents. I didn’t initiate contact, but it was super late. It was into December. The timing was honestly right up to where I think it might have affected my 2026 season. So I’m really glad it got done when it did because I really feel like I didn’t miss anything in the prep. I think it worked out about as well as it could have in the end.
The big story, of course, for 2025 was the contract dispute between you and your former team Israel-Premier Tech, now NSN Cycling. I’ve asked you questions about that, and there’s just a lot of it that you can’t discuss. But during that uncertain time for you, how did you feel?
There definitely were ups and downs. It was a very, very stressful time. It obviously went on for quite a while. I was able to continue, you know, to keep my head down, train and prepare for 2026.
But now that I’m in a new environment, a new team and I’m preparing for the season, the stress has left. It’s something in the past. Honestly, I feel really, really good. I feel motivated and ready for the new season.
Derek Gee-West. Quebec City, 2024. Photo: Nick Iwanyshyn
Was there ever a moment where you thought maybe your career was over?
For sure. That’s the worst-case scenario. It’s difficult to not think about worst-case scenarios, but I didn’t entertain that as super realistic. Now, I’m just looking forward to getting back into the peloton.
What was your training like during those—let’s call them uncertain months for the latter half of 2025?
I was doing my own coaching. I think, timing-wise, it worked out quite well. It was early prep for the next season, which is probably the easiest training to write for yourself.
You ride your bike a lot; you do some longer efforts and things like that. I obviously wouldn’t trust myself to write a training program for race prep or anything like that. But to be honest, the timing was great. I just had to ride my bike a lot, which is what I wanted to do anyway.
Now tell me about your arrival at the December team camp. What was the first thing that struck you about Lidl-Trek?
The size of the organization. There’s the men’s team, women’s team, devo team and all the staff. And, I was struck by how smoothly it ran, despite that. I showed up and there was an entire hotel of just Lidl-Trek.
Stepping into a December camp as your first introduction is always going to be overwhelming, even with a smaller team. But this was—a lot of learning names.
Were there name tags?
I wish.
At the December camp, did you receive all the new gear for the year?
No, no, because of the late signing. To be honest, when I showed up, just the fact that they had some kit for me was was pretty cool. But I’ve gotten a lot of it here in the January camp.
Is there anything new with your time trial setup? Are you trying anything different? Or are you trying to replicate what you’ve been doing before?
Replication as the first step with just the position I’m comfortable with. Then there’s trying different helmets, different bar extensions—all sorts of the little things. Then it’s just the necessary aero testing—the standard start of the year—trying to optimize the position as best as possible.
An alternative national champion kit for Derek Gee-West by Montreal designer Anthony Debauche. Image: Courtesy Anthony Debauche
Let’s talk about kit. I don’t know if you’ve seen the stories on our website, but web editor Matt Hansen, my colleague, has been quite critical of the national champion jersey that Lidl-Trek has created for you. Have you noticed the chatter about the jersey?
Oh, I’m seeing it. I’ve seen the uproar from Canadian fans. I’ve received designs that are around online and all this. The jersey was kind of just a rush. The truth of it is that it’s difficult to work around the sponsors. The Canadian jersey is not block colours. It’s the Maple Leaf. And you don’t want a sponsor in the middle of the Maple Leaf. But I have good news: there is a new jersey coming.
Have you worked with descending coach Oscar Saiz yet?
Actually, I have. Before he was hired by Trek, I worked with him about three years ago when he did a camp with Israel-Premier Tech. I know Mike Woods has done a ton of work with him. He’s really the gold standard of technical work. I know a ton of pros have taken advantage of that in the past. So it’s actually really cool to be on the team that he works for.
Is there any technique or skill or physical ability that you’re trying to bolster?
I think as a GC rider, I don’t have any glaring flaws but also no glaring things that make me good. It’s not like, oh, I’m the best climber and I can’t ride a TT bike or something like this. I think that’s a really nice place to be in because then I can chip away everywhere. I have room for improvement across basically all disciplines of GC riding. It’s definitely just a work in progress. We’ll see where it goes month by month, year by year.
You’ve raced against many of these riders and probably developed impressions of them from within these races. Have any of these impressions changed as you now see these riders as teammates?
No, I mean, honestly, all of the first impressions were great. The only one I raced against pretty consistently was Giulio Ciccone. I kind of went back and forth with him in GCs since mid-2024 when I started racing them. I always respect the way he races. He’s a very different rider than me: much, much punchier, much more explosive. So actually, it’s really cool to get to be teammates with someone who I’ve gone back and forth with for probably four or five stage races. I can’t wait to race with him and not have to worry about him.
Maybe have that punchiness complement your riding instead of work against your riding.
Exactly.
Has there been any welcome activities, initiation things or even pranks pulled on you?
I missed the off-the-bike team camp in Germany at the end of the 2025 season. But I guess as rookie hazing goes, I did have to ride around to Dénia for a little bit at the end of last camp with a getup on.
Was it the Lidl Christmas sweater?
No. I had a whole bunch of accessories attached to my bike, which, yeah, made for quite a spectacle for the hundreds of cyclists in this area to watch as I rode by. I had some streamers and whatnot. Just enough for me to look a little bit odd riding around.
For your season ahead, how much have you and the team planned your race schedule?
It’s all fully planned out until the end of the Giro d’Italia. I’ll start in Volta ao Algarve, and then I’ll do Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, Tour of the Alps and then the Giro. Obviously, this is always tentative. It’s bike racing. You never know. You get sick and miss a race. Then you have to add another one. When you’re stage racing and only have four races, each one is pretty crucial. That’s the plan for now. And then after that, up in the air—that’s for thinking about after the first big goal of the season.
And at the Giro, will you be the GC rider for the team?
Yes, I’ll be the GC guy at the Giro. But it’s split with other ambitions. There’s sprints and stage hunting and all this. I’m actually excited to be a part of a team that has such a wide scope to find success at these races.
Do you think you’ll be able to defend the national title this year?
I would love to go back for nationals. There’s a much more diverse group of teams in the men’s race than there has been in the past. But it depends who of the other Canadians does the Tour de France versus comes home for nationals. But it should make for actually some really, really exciting racing, I hope.
Osgoode, Ont.’s Derek Gee-West of Israel–Premier Tech collects himself shortly after finishing the 2023 Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal. Image: Nick Iwanyshyn
Have you broached the idea of coming back here for the Grand Prix races in Quebec City and Montreal?
I actually don’t know about those races. I would love to go. But either way, I’m fine with it because I’ll be there for worlds. And worlds is going to be something special, I think. I’m really, really excited for a home worlds, especially with a Canadian world champion on the women’s side. Montreal is only two hours from where I grew up. I think it’s going to be a really, really special event.
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Yes, I think we’re all pretty excited for that. This season, do you know if you will be riding in service for other riders, possibly after the Giro?
It’s not something that we’ve discussed. I’m always willing to. I think that’s also a really cool part about this team is that you have guys whose ceiling is at the top of the sport. So that’s something that is also really appealing to me to get to race with those guys. That’s definitely something that over the next three years, I’m definitely keen to be a part of.