Gee & McNulty: Giro d’Italia GC Contenders
- The 2025 Giro d'Italia witnessed a remarkable showing from North American cyclists, with several riders achieving personal bests and making a meaningful impact on the general classification.Canada's Derek...
- Derek Gee, riding for Israel-Premier Tech, capped off a transformative season with a fourth-place finish overall.
- "I didn’t want to put a number on it at the start," Gee said, "But in my head, it was top-5.
North Americans Shine at Giro d’Italia with Strong GC Performances
The 2025 Giro d’Italia witnessed a remarkable showing from North American cyclists, with several riders achieving personal bests and making a meaningful impact on the general classification.Canada’s Derek gee and USA’s Brandon McNulty both finished in the top 10, underscoring their potential as grand tour contenders. Isaac del Toro’s stage win further highlighted the region’s growing presence in professional cycling.
Derek Gee, riding for Israel-Premier Tech, capped off a transformative season with a fourth-place finish overall. This result marks the team’s best-ever grand tour performance. Gee’s consistent performance throughout the race solidified his transition from a breakaway specialist to a genuine GC threat.
“I didn’t want to put a number on it at the start,” Gee said, “But in my head, it was top-5. I’m very, very happy to have been able to achieve that.”
Brandon mcnulty, supporting UAE Emirates-XRG’s GC ambitions, also achieved a personal best, finishing ninth despite a crash. His resilience and consistency demonstrate his potential as a future grand tour contender, provided he gets more leadership opportunities.
gee’s strong performance validated Israel-Premier Tech’s decision to focus on his GC potential. Sport director Sam Bewley noted that Gee’s breakaway performances in the 2023 Giro sparked the idea of developing him into a GC rider.
“I think in 2023 when Derek was doing all those breakaways, that was kind of the moment we started to think, ‘Could we turn him into a GC rider?’ because of the way he was climbing and obviously how strong he was, we made it a bit of a long-term project to see how things would go,” Bewley said.
McNulty’s consistency was a highlight, marking a new high point in his three-week race performance. While he may not race the Tour de France, he remains a key part of UAE’s GC team.
What’s next
Gee is now looking ahead to the rest of the 2025 season, potentially including the Vuelta a España. He aims to build on his Giro success and further refine his GC capabilities, with hopes of achieving even greater results in future grand tours.McNulty will continue to be a key part of UAE’s team.