Osgoode, Ont.\u2019s Derek Gee will be doing his second Grand Tour of the year soon, the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a. He finished a solid fourth place at the Giro d\u2019Italia in May \u2014 a race where, two years earlier, he made himself a bit of a star.<\/p>\n
He was an outsider then \u2014 now things are much different. In 2023 he had four second places on stages, along with two fourths in his Grand Tour debut. He finished second overall in the KOM, second overall in the sprints, second overall in the intermediate sprints, and 22nd overall. After that breakout year, he and his team set their sights higher \u2014 as in GC. (No, we don\u2019t Derek GeeCee here, thankyouverymuch.)<\/p>\n
In 2024 he won the G.C. at O Gran Cami\u00f1o. He also won a stage at the Crit\u00e9rium du Dauphin\u00e9, as well as finishing third overall. In 2025, he finished fourth at Tirreno\u2013Adriatico after fighting back from a tough first day. And of course, in July 2024, he showed the world he can keep with the best. That was when he finished ninth at the Tour and in the mix in some of the toughest mountain stages.<\/p>\n
Now, what about the Vuelta? He definitely enters it as one of the favourites \u2014 for the podium, or even more.<\/p>\n
The 2025 Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a runs Aug. 23\u2013Sept. 14. It starts in Turin, Italy, and passes through France and Andorra before entering Spain.<\/p>\n
The 21-stage, 3,150-km route features key climbs such as L\u2019Angliru and Bola del Mundo. There\u2019s also a team time trial in Figueres, a summit finish in Olot, and a mountain stage ending at Cerler ski station.<\/p>\n
Gee is definitely one of the favourites for the overall \u2014 but just like the Giro, he faces tough competition. EF Education\u2019s Richard Carapaz \u2014 who had to settle for third in Italy \u2014 will be on the hunt for a red jersey. There\u2019s also the very, very strong Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team), who finished fifth at this year\u2019s Tour, impressing many. Thomas Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) will be there, looking to make up for a somewhat disappearing Giro.<\/p>\n
Despite the seemingly unbeatable world champion Tadej Poga\u010dar skipping the race \u2014 instead wanting to ramp up to his Worlds defence, including racing Les Grands Prix Cyclistes de Montr\u00e9al et Qu\u00e9bec \u2014 there is one other big rider: the one and only Jonas Vingegaard (Visma \u2013 Lease a Bike), looking to take his first Grand Tour since his 2023 Tour de France.<\/p>\n
Can Gee take the maillot rojo? It\u2019s possible. The first hurdle is the 20 km TTT. Can his Israel\u2013Premier Tech keep up with the others?<\/p>\n
There\u2019s also a stage 18 individual TT \u2014 26 km with a bit of a hill. Gee may have preferred something longer and hillier \u2014 but he\u2019s shown he is a good chrono rider. Vingegaard had an uncharacteristically \u201cbad\u201d TT at the Tour, where he lost a minute to Poga\u010dar. All it takes is one not-great day at a Grand Tour to put you behind. Gee knows this \u2014 at the first stage of the Giro this year, he lost almost a minute and was forced to claw time back.<\/p>\n