What might a transfer to Lidl-Trek look like for Derek Gee, and how would he fit into their leadership puzzle?

Two riders have kept cycling's transfer rumour mill turning right the way through to December 16: Oscar Onley and Derek Gee-West. Both finished fourth at a Grand Tour in 2025, and with room to develop, seem to offer up the best immediate option for general classification success in the here and now.

As speculation surrounding the Brit being acquired as a long-term option for home team Ineos Grenadiers gains traction, Gee-West's potential spot for 2026, too, is back in the spotlight, with Lidl-Trek being heavily speculated as the frontrunner – but would the Canadian be a good fit there?

Following the German team's training camp media day last Saturday, Daniel Benson reported via his Substack that Gee-West could become a Lidl-Trek rider. This report was furthered when Ciro Scognamiglio from La Gazzetta dello Sport followed up with information that Gee-West had joined the team's training camp near Denia.

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Whilst we haven't had public confirmation that Gee-West is in fact at Lidl's training camp right now, he has coincidentally stopped sharing the location of his Strava rides, which had been showing him in Andorra until the weekend.

Gee-West was due to be an Israel-Premier Tech rider until 2028 after signing an extension in 2023, but subsequently terminated his contract in August, citing how his relationship with the team management deteriorated and that "from a safety and personal-belief standpoint," he could no longer race for the team.

His departure came after Israel-Premier Tech's participation in races became the subject of several protests throughout the 2025 season, as Israel's armed conflict in Gaza continued, though the team didn't accept it and entered into an expensive legal process in the UCI's arbitral court.

It's important to note that no update via the team or rider has been made since October over whether a resolution has been made on Gee-West's case, and before progress is made and he moves forward to a new team, that dispute will require a remedy.

Assuming that does happen in December (if it hasn't already), a move to Lidl-Trek would place him immediately as one of their GC leaders, with options for Grand Tour leadership still open in their plans, but would also give him a strong chance of developing into his full potential, backed by one of the highest-budget teams in the WorldTour.

How Gee-West could slot into Lidl-Trek's race plans

Lidl-Trek have confirmed that three of their big hitters will be heading to the Tour de France, with Juan Ayuso leading their GC bid in search of a podium, Mattias Skjelmose supporting him, and Mads Pedersen chasing stages and the green jersey.

But the Giro d'Italia – where Gee-West finished fourth in 2025 – is a different story. Yes, they will be hunting stages through Jonathan Milan, Thibau Nys and Giulio Ciccone, but the latter is no longer going for GC and will focus only on stages in 2026.

This opens the door for the Canadian to enter and immediately get to lead at the race where he made his breakthrough in 2023, chasing breakaways, and with a 40km time trial and relatively easier climbing route by Giro standards, it could prove the perfect route for a diesel climber like Gee-West.

With him on board, their goals could genuinely switch from stages to a potential podium – which they will also be chasing at the Tour and Vuelta, where Skjelmose should be the GC leader.

Outside of the Grand Tours, Gee-West would also give Lidl-Trek another contender for the multitude of one-week WorldTour stage races across the calendar, as their other GC hopefuls also target one-day success in the Ardennes.

He would also fill the gap that Tao Geoghegan Hart hasn't quite developed into since joining in 2024, with his brutal injury from a crash at the 2023 Giro – and subsequent crashes and illnesses – seeing him well away from his best in the two seasons he's had at Lidl-Trek.

Potential leadership headache

There is still the risk that a third frontline GC rider could be a risk for Lidl-Trek, with Ayuso signed up until 2030 and Skjelmose announcing on Monday that he'd extended with the team until 2028.

We've already seen some butting of heads with the Dane commenting on his new teammate's arrival – which he's since walked back – but still, a third person fighting for GC leadership could prove a headache and a hindrance to all of their developments as riders, so it wouldn't be so simple to add Gee-West to the mix.

Ayuso will certainly be the long-term project, after his early exit from UAE Team Emirates-XRG gave Lidl-Trek the chance to secure one of the top prospects in the sport, but Gee-West has arguably shown more GC promise than Skjelmose.

His arrival could push the Dane further down the pecking order, should Gee-West kick on from his ninth-place finish at the 2024 Tour de France and fourth-place finish at this year's Giro. The faith that came with that 2028 extension could be contradicted in no time, leaving the Dane questioning where he stands, and whether he should jump ship in pursuit of outright leadership elsewhere.

But that's not to say that the risk couldn't come off perfectly and provide Lidl-Trek with a leadership structure to challenge the other super teams they are chasing down. A real GC presence is all they are missing from competing year-round against the likes of UAE and Visma, with Milan and Pedersen already giving them elite performers for the sprints and Classics.

Culturally, too, Gee-West on the surface seems a solid fit for Lidl-Trek. That's not just to say that he would work well in a Lidl middle aisle social media video (he would), but his popularity makes him suitable to drop into a team of fan favourites.

All in all, the potential headache appears to be outweighed by the potential gains he could make as a GC rider, team leader, and figurehead for one of the sport's top teams.

Other options if Lidl-Trek doesn't materialise

Lidl-Trek has remained an option because of several reasons, even before the reported links: their roster still has one spot open with 29 riders confirmed, they are one of the few teams with the budget to afford Gee-West, and other options have simply faded as time has gone by.

When Gee-West's contract termination was announced, it was Ineos Grenadiers who were heavily reported as the expected landing spot for the Canadian, but as the new year has approached and the Onley rumours have grown, a move to the British team has seemed less and less likely.

Also floated was a possible move to Mathieu van der Poel's Alpecin team, after Canadian sponsor Premier Tech – who also cut ties with Israel-Premier Tech after that partnership became untenable – joined the Belgian team as a title sponsor for 2026. They clearly wanted to bring a Canadian to the team, as Hugo Houle ended up swapping Israel-Premier Tech for Alpecin, so why not go for Canada's most successful male rider right now?

Working against this, however, is of course their smaller budget, but mainly how a GC rider such as Gee-West doesn't particularly fit into their current or long-term plans. They are a Classics and sprint-focused team, with Van der Poel and Jasper Philipsen as their big leaders for the majority of the season, and GC ambitions have rarely leaked into their identity.

If they had wanted to go down that path, Jay Vine would have been the perfect rider to build around, having won two Vuelta mountain stages for Alpecin after winning a spot through the Zwift Academy, but even his talents weren't kept on board. Aside from the fact that their 30-rider roster is all full, Gee-West joining them would have only made sense from a sponsorship perspective, but not a sporting one.

There are other teams without full rosters who could, in theory, accommodate Gee-West – such as EF Education EasyPost with only 23 confirmed – but none have been linked to, or seem as likely now as Lidl-Trek.

With the Canadian revealing in October that he was facing around €30 million in a damages claim after Israel-Premier Tech protested that his contract remained valid, despite his termination, it would be quite a turnaround for them and Gee-West to have found a resolution and for him to have secured a place in the 2026 peloton.

The clock is ticking on him finding a place for 2026, and there is still a chance he doesn't find a WorldTour ride for next year, which would be truly bizarre for rider who finished in the top five of a Grand Tour just six months ago. However, if a move is to be confirmed in the coming days or weeks, the Canadian racing in blue, red and yellow seems most probable, and it could well prove a risk worth taking for all involved.