Derek Gee West will race the 2026 Giro d'Italia with the goal of improving on last year's fourth place and reaching the podium. The Canadian, fresh from a three-year agreement with Lidl Trek and General Manager Luca Guercilena, stated: "The team has chosen me to be the leader in the 'pink race', and I'm very happy about it. Lidl Trek will come to the Giro with multiple objectives: we'll also have Jonathan Milan, the world's best sprinter, and Giulio Ciccone hunting for stage wins. I will focus on the general classification and aim for the final podium."

Responding to questions from L'Equipe colleagues, the 25-year-old Canadian national champion explained that he was quite surprised by recent rumors about a potential move to INEOS Grenadiers: "Those speculations came out of nowhere. Now I'm here with Lidl Trek, and I assure you I couldn't have dreamed of a better place. It's a truly exceptional team, and I'm eager to return to racing with Lidl Trek."

Gee West didn't hide that he had gone through months of uncertainty regarding his professional future: "It was a definitely difficult period. I wasn't sure things would be resolved by year-end, but ultimately everything worked out with good timing. When I arrived at the Lidl Trek training camp, I felt free and regenerated."

The winner of the 2025 O Gran Camiño then continued, explaining: "Despite being my own trainer for quite some time, my data remains consistent with last season. I've been working with Xabi Zabalo, my new coach, for a month now. Everything is going very well, the team is supporting me perfectly. We'll see how it goes returning to the peloton after more than six months."

Gee West doesn't want to dwell on the past, explicitly stating this while politely avoiding questions about why he left his previous team. Now the Canadian national champion is focused on the upcoming racing season: already marked on his agenda are Volta ao Algarve em Bicicleta (18 – 22 February), Volta a Catalunya (23 – 29 March), Tour of the Alps (20 – 24 April), and - marked in red, as is done with the most important appointments - the Giro d'Italia.