Derek Gee-West and the Lidl-Trek team were dealt a massive blow to the team’s GC ambitions on just the second day of the Giro d’Italia. The Canadian national champion was caught up in a massive crash as the Grand Tour traversed slippery roads. While the Lidl-Trek team isn’t hurting as much as UAE Emirates, who lose Jay Vine and Marc Soler from the race in addition to Adam Yates’s time losses, it’s still a far from ideal start to the three-week race.
Derek Gee-West update after crash at Giro d’Italia
“The roads were dirty, full of mud,” Gee-West’s teammate Giulio Ciccone, who finished third on the stage, said after racing concluded. “And then of course there is stress. Everyone knows that the first stages are like that.”
Still, this stage stood out.
“It was a very crazy finale. First there was that heavy crash, then the neutralization, followed by uncertainty about where the stage would resume, and finally that super-explosive climb,” Ciccone recalled. “It’s a shame about the finish, because it really was a tough day.”
UAE Emirates-XRG’s António Morgado was more blunt.
“I think everyone knew that with this road surface, someone was bound to fall,” the Portugese rider told Eurosport. “Unfortunately, we were unlucky.”
“The road was incredibly slippery, which is why there was such a big fight for position,” Morgado added. “We went through the corner and then we crashd. I’m in some pain myself, but we’re not going to give up.”
Racing at the 2026 Giro d’Italia continues on Sunday. You can catch the action on FloBikes.com, starting at 6:40 a.m. EDT. As always, Canadian Cycling Magazine will have a race report and a few other bits of Giro content as the day goes on.
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