(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 the 70e rank (+4 min 46.58 s), he who had chosen to save himself 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.
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Hugo Houle
“Tomorrow, we will have to be attentive. If ever the sprinter teams 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). Swell is 97e (+20 min 42 sec).
“Once again today, Derek performed exceptionally well. We keep the good momentum that we have had from the beginning. […] 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 that his form is gradually increasing.
“To date, I’m where I need to be, so I’m encouraged for the future. »