Derek Gee-West (Lidl-Trek) has moved closer to an overall podium finish at the 2026 Giro d'Italia after riding into the winning breakaway and finishing second place on the queen stage 19 that finished on the Piani di Pezzè summit in Alleghe.
The Canadian, who started the day in sixth place overall, was part of a 28-rider breakaway that was reduced to ten and in the later stages of the race. The group gained three minutes on maglia rosa Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), along with runner-up Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) and third-placed Thymen Arensman (Netcompany Ineos).
The bigger the gap at the finish, the better for Gee-West's hopes of standing on the podium in Rome on Sunday, but in the end, he gained only enough to move up to fifth place overall.
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"For sure, I have no idea what the gaps were, but we kept it rolling," Gee-West said.
"Tudor did a really good job of keeping the gap open, while Michael [Storer]and Giulio [Ciccone] committed to keeping it rolling. It was a super hard day."
Gee-West wasn't the only overall classification rider in the mix, and the breakaway also included Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe), who started the day in fourth overall, Michael Storer (Tudor Pro Cycling) in seventh, Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Victorious) in ninth and Mathys Rondel (Tudor Pro Cycling) in 12th, all looking to move up the rankings.
Other riders in the move were eventual stage winner Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike), Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Einer Rubio (Movistar) and Jan Hirt (NSN Cycling).
"It was super hard right from the start. 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 other guys dropping back, pulling them across to the break, so I had to go with that," Gee-West said.
Gee-West benefitted from having his own teammate in the move, Ciccone, a perfect scenario for Lidl-Trek, with the Italian scooping up enough points over the Passo Duran, Coi, Forcella Staulanza, Passo Giau, and Passo Falzarego, and then, at the finish line, surpassing Vingegaard in the mountain classification.
"Making sure he could get the KOM points. I think he moved into the lead, so that's a big goal going into the day. When he went for the last ones, and [Einer] Rubio sat up, there was an immediate gap, and he kept it going," Gee-West said.
Ciccone then went solo in pursuit of the stage victory, and he reached the foot of the final ascent to the line with a one-minute lead on the remnants of the break and 2:17 over the peloton.
The Piani di Pezzè was 5.9km, and for a moment it looked as though he could potentially take the win. However, he was caught by Kuss and then Gee-West, but held on for third place on the day.
"I was on the radio telling him it was super disordered. Credit to Michael because he knew he was riding for the GC gap, and he just put his head down in the valley," Gee-West said.
For Gee-West, his runner-up place on the stage meant that he moved up one place in the overall standing to fifth overall, now 6:31 behind Vingegaard. While the Dane is too far out of reach, Gee-West has one more chance to try and pull time back on Arensman, who is in fourth overall, and Hindley, who is in third place overall, with only 1:27 separating them.
Asked if he has the motivation to go for the podium on stage 20's 200km race from Gemona del Friuli to Piancavallo, Gee-West, who had barely caught his breath after his effort into Alleghe, said, "At least it's a little more flat tomorrow.
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