Gee-West details Giro crash injuries: 'Beaten up, but I'm pretty lucky'

Derek Gee-West (Lidl-Trek) has detailed the extent of his injuries after being involved in the mass crash on stage 2 of the Giro d’Italia. He remains calm despite losing time in the GC as a result.

When the race resumed following a brief neutralisation, Gee-West found himself distanced on the final climb up the Lyaskovets Monastery Pass, and he would ultimately ship 1:01 to the front group, leaving an early deficit in the GC to make up.

Unlike overnight casualty Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), who has withdrawn from the race, the Canadian champion is fit enough to take to the start of stage 3, a 175km route from Plovdiv to Sofia, which is expected to end in a sprint. Gee-West gave the breakdown on the extent of his injuries pre-stage.

“Beaten up, but not so bad considering how some of the other guys ended up, I’m pretty lucky,” Gee-West told CyclingProNet. “Oh, it’s a little bit everywhere. Hips pretty bad, a little bit on the back, but yeah, in the end, just hit really hard actually, so didn’t come away with too much road rash or anything, just bruising.”

When asked to describe the crash, Gee-West highlighted that with the incident happening so quickly, he had no time to react and didn't see what had happened. 

“Oh, I saw guys in front of me hitting the deck, and then I hit the deck, and then I saw a lot of guys on the ground. It’s never nice, but obviously, I haven’t heard how everyone’s doing, but yeah, it was a pretty nasty one.”

Gee-West admitted that he doesn’t see any reason to panic after conceding time to his GC rivals, acknowledging the fact that he lost 57 seconds on the opening stage in Albania last year, and still battled his way to 4th overall come the race’s end in Rome.

“I don’t think a whole lot,” said Gee-West when asked what changes in his race. “A minute at the start. Something I’m used to now, losing a minute right out the gate. Obviously not the nicest way to do it, but my legs felt okay, and I think at the end of the race, hopefully a minute doesn’t decide a spot one way or the other.”

Sunday’s third and final stage in Bulgaria means that the peloton will have an early rest day, as the race transitions back to home soil in Italy. For riders like Gee-West who are nursing wounds, it’s a boost in their recovery attempts.

“For sure. Yeah, it’s not terrible timing with hopefully not a decisive stage today. It should be a sprint and then a rest day, at least gives a little bit of time to come around,” said Gee-West.