Derek Gee makes a his mark as he won the O Gran Camino stage 3 ITT to move into the race leader's yellow jersey with two stages to go. The Ottawan nicknamed, 'The Birdwatcher' posted a time of 23:17 for the challenging 15.6 km course between Qurense and Pereiro de Aguiar to beat his nearest challenger by 17 seconds. More importantly, Gee finished 25 seconds ahead of overnight leader Magnus Cort and now sits five seconds ahead of the Danish rider on GC. On Saturday Gee will get to experience what it's like leading the standings during a conventional road stage, one that finishes on the category 3 Alto de Cebreiro after a big day of climbing.
"Really, really happy. I put a lot of pressure on myself to deliver on what was the expectation from the team - and myself - going into today, so I'm really happy. We did some work on the TT bike over the winter and I wanted to start the year strongly in the discipline. This TT holds a special place in my heart because in 2022 my result in this race's time trial is what helped me get my first pro contract. It was a hard one then and it was another hard one today!
It's unchartered territory but I'm looking forward to it. Tomorrow will be a super hard stage and then the last day could be chaos! Magnus did a great TT today and there are a couple of guys here who are really, really good climbers, so it's going to be interesting."
-Derek Gee
Teammate and compatriot Hugo Houle finished ninth, 43 seconds behind Gee, with Italian Marco Frigo posting a time for 15th place.
Stage 3 results
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