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At the 2023 Giro d\u2019Italia, he registered four second-place finishes and also was runner-up in the points and mountains classifications for his relentless and daring attacks during races. In 2024, he was ninth overall in the General Classification and earned a third-place stage result in his Tour de France debut.<\/p>\n
Israel-Premier Tech had planned to enter Gee-West in the Tour of Poland, the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a, Grand Prix races in Quebec City and Montreal and the world championships to conclude 2025, but that was scrapped, when he unexpectedly bolted from the team with three years remaining on the five-year contract he signed in 2023.<\/p>\n
In August, Gee-West confirmed his \u201ccontract with Israel-Premier Tech has been formally and duly terminated by my legal representatives,\u201d after \u201ccareful consideration and for legitimate reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCertain issues simply made my continuation at the team untenable,\u201d he added in a written statement.<\/p>\n
Gee-West later issued another statement confirming he had never spoken to another team and money wasn\u2019t one of the reasons for leaving the team.<\/p>\n
\u201cI terminated my contract with just cause as is every person\u2019s right, when they are unable to continue performing their work under the existing circumstances,\u201d he explained. \u201cThis decision was not taken lightly. It followed an irreparable relationship with the team principal as well as serious concerns related to racing for the team, both from a safety and personal-belief stand point that weighed heavily on my conscience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Israel-Premier Tech argued Gee-West had signed a contract through 2028 and it was considering a lawsuit for 30-million Euros for damages.<\/p>\n
His decision came during the Israeli military assault in Gaza, which caused thousands of deaths and destruction. Israel-Premier Tech riders felt unsafe during the Vuelta as protestors and demonstrators vented their anger.<\/p>\n
Israel-Premier Tech was co-owned by Canadian-Israeli billionaire Sylvan Adams, who based the team in Israel. During a rebranding, Adams left the team and NSN Cycling Team was created two months ago. It\u2019s located in Switzerland. Premier Tech also left as a sponsor.<\/p>\n
The dispute between Gee-West and Israel-Premier Tech was brought before the Union Cycliste Internationale\u2019s arbitral board. The three-person board consisted of one member from Israel-Premier Tech, one on behalf of Gee-West and one for the UCI, which was named by board president Marc Lemay, a Canadian who stayed away from any knowledge of the situation.<\/p>\n
On Jan. 6, NSN announced on X (formerly Twitter) the dispute had been resolved with this statement: \u201cNSN Cycling Team has finalized an agreement, approved by the UCI, with Lidl-Trek and Derek Gee-West, which will see Gee-West\u2019s existing contract with our team conclude. NSN Cycling Team wished Derek Gee-West the best of luck for the future with his new team.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lidl-Trek then announced it had signed Gee-West to a three-year contract, which runs through 2028.<\/p>\n
As the 2025 Canadian road race winner, Gee-West will wear a small red maple leaf symbol on the bottom half of his jersey, indicating his status as the current national champion. Gee-West said a new jersey is in the making to give more prominence to the red maple leaf.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s pretty special to be joining Lidl-Trek,\u201d said Gee-West, who rode with the team during a mid-December camp, in the team press release. \u201cFrom the outside, you can already see this is an organization operating very close to the gold standard in our sport and that was something that really appealed to me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ambition, the structure and the depth of talent across the team are impressive and it feels like the right environment for the next phase of my career.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m looking forward to racing with shared ambitions and multiple options within the team. Lidl-Trek has world-class riders across so many areas of the sport and being part of a group where we can play different cards in stage races and Grand Tours is something new for me. I\u2019m excited to learn from that, to keep developing as a GC rider and to see what we can achieve together over the coming years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Making Gee-West the 30th and final rider on its men\u2019s roster is a big boost for Lidl-Trek, according to team general manager Luca Guercilena.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the past three years, he has shown an incredibly high level in stage races and we\u2019re sure we haven\u2019t even seen his limit yet,\u201d Guercilena said in the team press release. \u201cDerek will have the full support of our performance resources to fully realize his potential. As a team, we have big goals across the entire season and recruiting Derek brings us one step close to achieving them.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Martin Cleary has written about amateur sports for over 52 years. A past Canadian sportswriter of the year and Ottawa Sports Awards Lifetime Achievement in Sport Media honouree, Martin retired from full-time work at the Ottawa Citizen in 2012, but continued to write a bi-weekly \u201cHigh Achievers\u201d column for the Citizen\/Sun.<\/p>\n
When the pandemic struck, Martin created the High Achievers \u201cStay-Safe Edition\u201d to provide some positive news during tough times, via his Twitter account at first and now here at OttawaSportsPages.ca.<\/p>\n
Martin can be reached by e-mail at martincleary51@gmail.com and on Twitter @martincleary.<\/a>\n<\/p>\n \n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n \t