(Montreal) Ottawa’s Derek Gee (Israel – Premier Tech) valiantly defended his yellow and blue leader’s jersey in the fourth stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné, a 34.4-kilometer individual time trial between Saint-Germain– Laval and Neulise, Wednesday, in France. Hugo Houle’s teammate, however, had to give up his tunic to the winner of the day, Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step), reigning world champion in the specialty.
Gee, winner of Tuesday’s stage, placed sixth, 1 minute 24 seconds behind the Belgian. Houle took 70th place (4 min 46.58 s), he who had chosen to save time for the rest of the week.
“Even if I had done it thoroughly, I don’t think I would have made a (good) place, so I preferred to remain conservative to go on the offensive tomorrow (Thursday) if an opportunity presents itself,” recognized the cyclist from Sainte-Perpétue.
“Tomorrow we will have to be attentive. If the sprinter teams ever decide to be active in the movements, we will have to be wary of Lidl – Trek and see in which direction it will go. »
After the stage on Thursday, 167 kilometers between Amplepuis and Saint-Priest, the last three will be contested in the high mountains.
The Canadian team livened up the race and the stage victory and Gee’s yellow jersey gave a positive boost to all the troops. In the general classification, Gee is now fourth, 1 minute 11 seconds behind Evenepoel, who holds a 33-second lead over Slovenian Primoz Roglic (BORA-hansgrohe). Houle is 97th (20 min 42 s).
“Again today, Derek gave an exceptional performance. We are maintaining the good momentum that we have had from the start. […] We will certainly continue to support him and with the form he is currently in, he is motivated to achieve a good place in the general ranking,” continued Houle, adding that on a personal level, he feels his form is increasing gradually.
“So far, I’m where I need to be, so I’m encouraged for the future.”