Midway through Canada’s recon of the World Championships mixed relay course, Derek Gee had the sinking realisation that he would soon be seeing a whole lot more of the arduous circuit that loops through the hills behind Zurich.
"We were reconning it with the TTT in mind and then all of a sudden, we realised - Wait, this is also the road race course - so that was a little daunting," Gee smiled after completing the mixed relay on Wednesday afternoon. "It’s going to make for an interesting race on Sunday."
Gee and his companions placed seventh on their debut in the mixed relay, but the Canadian squad will have loftier ambitions in Sunday’s road race, where Michael Woods will lead the line. Woods was a bronze medallist in Innsbruck six years ago and he arrives in Switzerland buoyed by his stage victory on the Puerto de Ancares at the Vuelta a España.
"We’re all in for Mike and he’s on great form right now. He’s coming off winning a Vuelta stage and he’s super motivated," Gee said. "He’s medalled at the World Championships before and on a really hard course too, so hopefully that bodes well for the weekend."
On paper, the 273km Zurich course is the toughest since the Imola Worlds in 2020, and it might prove even more demanding in practice. The 27km finishing circuit over the climbs of Zürichbergstrasse and Witikonerstrasse offers few obvious points of respite, and Gee expects the bunch to be whittled down considerably ahead of the final laps.
"It’s hard to compare it to anything I can think of – maybe the GP Montréal, because it’s got a similar amount of elevation, but there are some really hard and steep climbs here," Gee said.
"I think it’s going to be a real slow burn. There’s nowhere to rest. You can try to save your team, but guys will start going out the back every lap well before it kicks off, because it’s such a long race and there’s nowhere really to take advantage of sitting in. Even the descent is pretty technical, especially with the peloton stringing out so. I think it’s just going to be really, really attritional and, well, daunting."
Tadej Pogačar is the overwhelming favourite for this World Championships as he seeks to add the rainbow bands to the yellow and pink jerseys he has already claimed this year. Gee agreed with that consensus given the nature of the route – "There’s no hiding, so this is the kind of course where the strongest guy has a really good shot" – though the Worlds can sometimes take on a logic of its own as the laps start counting down.
"I think everyone knows who the favourite is and how he likely wants it to play out, but at the same time there are so many unknowns at the Worlds when it’s not your trade team," Gee said. "Teams are a lot more likely to throw something at the wall and see what sticks, especially when there’s a rainbow jersey on the line, so I imagine there’ll be some pretty unorthodox racing."
Season
After catching the eye with his aggression as a neo-pro at last year’s Giro d’Italia, Gee enjoyed a fine sophomore season at this level in 2024. His spring campaign was interrupted by a broken collarbone at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, but he would make amends in the summer, placing third overall at the Critérium du Dauphiné and ninth on GC at his debut Tour de France.
Like many in this Olympic year, Gee has struggled to find the same form in the latter part of the season. His only racing between the Paris Olympics and the Zurich Worlds came on home roads at the WorldTour races in Québec and Montréal, and he confessed that fatigue had been a factor. It’s all part of the learning process for a rider who spent much of his 20s focused primarily on the track.
"It’s been hard to find the legs again in the second half of the season, and I think it’s about learning to manage what works for me," Gee said. "Doing an altitude camp, the Dauphiné and the Tour build was a big load, and I think maybe I was a bit too motivated with that form and I didn’t rest properly. There are all these little things that you learn season by season."
No matter how Gee’s season ends, thoughts of that purple patch in June and July will sustain the 27-year-old through the winter as he builds towards 2025. "You always just hope that’s your new base line and you can work up from there," he said.
"There’s always ups and downs, and it was the same in the second half of last season after the Giro, when I did track for the summer. I never really found those legs again until this season, so it’s all just learning. It’s tough but it’s also motivating for the years ahead."
Get unlimited access to all of our coverage of the 2024 UCI Road World Championships - including breaking news and analysis reported by our journalists on the ground from the junior, under-23, and elite time trials and road races as it happens and more. Find out more.
