Gee-West survives late puncture scare as Lidl-Trek teammates haul him back

The Canadian was forced to stop at a crucial moment with the pace rampant on stage 4 with a puncture just after summiting the Cozzo Tunno, briefly fearing a significant time loss after he also lost time on stage 2 as a result of the huge crash. 

“Really, really unfortunate timing on that one,” Gee-West said to TNT Sports. “I thought that was going to be another minute gone, but yeah, luckily Egan [Bernal] was back there with Ben Turner, and they were, they were ripping it to come back.”

Even once the chase was underway to close the margin to the front group, Gee-West said there was no chance to relax until he rejoined the bunch as Movistar were still dictating a frantic tempo at the fore of the peloton for their man Orluis Aular.

"Even closing those last couple seconds was, yeah, it was full gas, luckily, you know, we had Matteo to draw back and help close that last little bit, but yeah, that was a hard chase.”

Gee-West's teammate, Giulio Ciccone, moves into the maglia rosa after taking enough bonus seconds across the stage at the Red Bull KM and at the finish line, the Canadian on Ciccone's achievement was happy for his teammate after knowing just how much the Italian was planning on taking it.

"For how much it means to Giulio, I mean, to everyone in this bike race, that jersey means a lot, but yeah, to hear him talk about it on the bus this morning and, and to know it was a realistic goal was super, super cool to pull that off.”