For a while on Friday, it really did look like Lidl-Trek might take its first Giro d’Italia stage win this year.

Instead, Osgoode, Ont.’s Gee-West added another runner-up finish to his growing Giro résumé, taking second on the savage Stage 19 queen stage after a huge ride through the Dolomites. His teammate Giulio Ciccone finished third. The Italian was solo before getting caught by ultimate winner Sepp Kuss.

This second, by Gee-West, was a little different than the four he had back in 2023. Back then he was an outsider. Now, he’s one of the big GC contenders.

Gee-West crossed the line 13 seconds behind Sepp Kuss after spending most of the day in the breakaway. He also grabbed bonus seconds at the Red Bull Kilometre. Now he sits fifth overall with two stages remaining.

A brutal day of racing

The 151-km stage was chaos almost from the start.  There were six classified climbs packed into one brutal day in the Dolomites. That included the Passo Giau and summit finish at Piani di Pezzè.

Gee-West initially appeared content to ride with the GC contenders. However, the race exploded on the opening climbs. He was forced into action after Michael Storer attacked ahead of the pink jersey group.

“It was super hard, I mean, right from the start,” Gee-West said. “I was just going to stay with the GC guys and then Tudor pulled a really good move with Michael jumping and then a bunch of their guys dropping back, pulling him across, so I had to go with that.”

Ciccone’s move

Up front, teammate Giulio Ciccone was on a mission of his own, scooping up mountains points all day long in his fight for the maglia azzurra. Gee-West eventually bridged across to the Italian on the climbs before the pair found themselves in a dangerous move alongside Storer, Kuss and others over the Passo Giau.

Toward the end, Ciccone attacked over the top of the climb. He flew down the descent while the chase hesitated behind him. For a brief stretch, it looked like Lidl-Trek had perfectly played the stage.

“To be honest, I thought we had the stage when Cicco went on the descent and there was a bit of disorder behind,” Gee-West said.

The Canadian champ explained how the team’s aggressive ride through the mountains had opened the door both for Ciccone’s KOM ambitions and his own GC move.

Mission accomplished for Ciccone

“Tudor did a really good job into Giau to keep the gap open and then, yeah, Michael, Giulio and I committed to keeping it rolling,” he said. “Cicco moved into the lead of the KOM, so that was a big goal going into the day.”

“When he went for the KOM and Rubio sat up, there was just an immediate gap and he kept it going and I was on the radio telling him, you know, it was super disordered.”

But the move ultimately unravelled in the valley roads before the final climb, where Kuss powered across alone before riding away for the stage win.

On Kuss’s win

“Hats off to Sepp, the way he pulled into the valley, I was sitting in the wheels and he still rode away from me,” Gee-West said.

Ciccone eventually faded on the steep summit finish after his earlier effort, but still held on for third while also taking over the mountains classification lead.

“I’m happy. It was really painful. Full gas from the start to the end,” Ciccone said.

Gee-West now sits fifth overall at 6:31 behind race leader Jonas Vingegaard heading into Saturday’s final mountain stage. That features two ascents of Piancavallo before the race heads to Rome.