'It's best to just leave it in the past' - Derek Gee-West refocusing on Giro d'Italia ambitions after 'incredibly stressful' departure from Israel-Premier Tech

Canadian champion Derek Gee-West can finally breathe a sigh of relief and focus on the major goals for his 2026 season with Lidl-Trek after months of a reported $30 million lawsuit hanging over his head.

The 28-year-old met with the media today, including Cyclingnews, in a video call from the Lidl-Trek team camp, and confirmed that the case was now resolved but preferred not to speak about his contentious departure from Israel-Premier Tech that could easily have ended his career.

However, in a separate interview with the Spanish newspaper El País along with his attorney, he was more forthcoming.

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"These past months have been incredibly stressful," Gee-West told El País. "This case has been a constant headache, a process in which I've experienced some truly dark days, with moments when I thought that, unfortunately, retirement was a very real possibility, especially given the enormous sum of money involved."

Former team owner and billionaire Sylvan Adams attempted to sue Gee-West for a reported €30 million in damages after the rider terminated his contract with Israel-Premier Tech following the mass protests against the team amid Israel's armed conflict in Gaza.

After months of silence, Gee-West and attorney Branco Martins finally revealed to El País that they asserted that his contract was that of a self-employed freelancer, not of a salaried employee, so he was free to break his contract.

Ultimately, Adams stepped away as owner of the team and the team, now under new management and operating as NSN Cycling, reached an agreement in January with Gee-West, and the UCI Arbitration Committee moved to close the case.

"What worried me most was making it clear at all times that money was never my motivation," Gee-West said to El País. "There's no good way to express your political opinion without being rejected. In the end, I didn't want to use what was happening in the Gaza Strip as a scapegoat to get out of my contract. I didn't think it was fair."

Once the case was closed, Lidl-Trek quickly finalised the signing of Gee-West.

"There's a whole bunch of reasons that I just want to leave that in the past. That's definitely not something I want to get into, out of respect for all the parties involved," Gee-West said during Wednesday's press call.

"I definitely thought at some point that I was not confident that it would be resolved by the end of the season, but I'm eternally grateful that it was, especially with the timing of it. I feel like I really, truly, did not miss anything on the build up to 2026. To be honest, it was a lot of uncertainty - I had no idea how long it would go on for.

"I think the only thing that we could see going into 2026 is just being out of the peloton for a little bit," he added of any impacts of his time away from racing. It's the same if you break a collarbone, so hopefully it's not too impactful, and I'll just step back into the new season normally."

Although other teams expressed interest in signing him, Gee-West said that the rumour that Ineos Grenadiers were going to sign him was completely false.

"That kind of came out of nowhere, I would say. There wasn't really any substance to that," Gee-West said.

"I was as shocked as anyone to read that, but no, I'm here [with Lidl-Trek], I'm stoked, and I couldn't have asked for a better landing spot. The team's been great so far - I'm really well introduced and integrated into it so far and can't wait to get racing."

Grand Tour GC ambitions

Gee-West's 2026 season is fully focused on the Giro d'Italia after he missed the podium by 1:40 in 2025, finishing fourth. He will start his season at the Volta ao Algarve in February, followed by the Volta a Catalunya, Tour of the Alps and the Giro.

"I really love the Giro. Even since I was a kid, it's been my favorite of the Grand Tours. And obviously I had the breakout race there in 2023, but if I did [the Giro] every year for the rest of my career, I'd be happy with that."

The Lidl-Trek roster has been bolstered by the arrival of Juan Ayuso from UAE Team Emirates-XRG, who is the team's Tour de France GC leader along with Mads Pedersen for the green jersey.

Gee-West will head the GC for the Giro d'Italia alongside Giulio Ciccone and sprinter Jonathan Milan, who will try for another points classification victory. Going into a Grand Tour with multiple goals can be tricky for a team, but Gee-West isn't concerned.

"Honestly, maybe it's more the style of rider I am, but I don't feel like I need to have six guys around me to race GC," he said when asked by Cyclingnews. "I think I would complement really well having guys stage hunting or sprinting, obviously, which will remain a big focus."

The Canadian's ambitions for the Giro d'Italia will be complicated by the announcement that Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) will be targeting the GC there, too, and Gee-West is realistic about his chances.

"There's a lot of levels of rider between me and [Grand Tour winners Vingegaard and Tadej Pogačar]. It's just one step at a time, trying to improve, trying to reach that next level.

"Those guys have both won multiple Grand Tours. My goal is to reach that podium for now and just try and chip away bit by bit. Just because I've come fourth, I could improve across the board and not improve on the result, based on the field, based off the luck. It's bike racing - but my goal is just to put everything in place as best I can in order to help myself make it as easy as possible to try and make that step."

Lidl-Trek, he said, is the 'gold standard' as an organisation and offers every facet of support in reaching his goals, but he knows it will be a process to get to the level of a Grand Tour podium finisher.

"I went pro, by today's standards, very late at 25, and so I've done three seasons and I only started GC at the Dauphine in '24. I think there's a ton still to go, even physically," he said.

"Obviously, the first bit was a big learning curve - and that's where I think I improved the most - was just learning how to ride GC, because that was very new. But I think even even physically, there's still quite a bit of improvement to go again. I can't say for sure that I'm going to get better, but I know there are some areas that I still need to improve, and hopefully those can translate into results."