Following his impressive attack at the recent Giro d'Italia, Canadian neo-pro Derek Gee has signed a contract extension with Israel Premier Tech through the end of the 2028 season.

The 25-year-old, who made his Grand Tour debut in Italy last month, was one of the stars of the Giro, finishing second four times and fourth twice in seven successful breakaways.

He won the mountain prize, the points prize, the intermediate sprint prize, second place in the breakaway group, and the prize for the most combative rider in Rome. His Israeli Premier Tech team acted quickly to hand him one of the longest contracts in cycling, with only Juan Ayuso of UAE Team Emirates currently under contract until the end of the 2028 season.

"Signing this new contract was an incredibly easy decision for me. I know five more years is a long time, especially in the cycling world, but this team feels like home," Gee said.

"I strongly want to be part of this team for the long term because I can see where the team is headed in terms of performance and the relationships with the riders, staff, and management. It also gives me a sense of stability to step into a new direction as a rider that I never would have considered before the Giro.

"The Giro was far from what I expected, but this past week has given me a taste of riding in the Giro. But last week, the Giro wore on me. I'm really happy to prove with that result why the team trusted me with that calendar."

Gee is part of a strong Canadian contingent on a team owned by Israeli-Canadian billionaire Sylvain Adams and co-sponsored by Canadian company Premier Tech. He is a member of the Canadian team.

He joins Hugo Uhl, Michael Woods, and Guillaume Boivin on the racing team, along with performance director Paulo Saldaña, Steve Bauer of Directeur Sportif, several coaches, soigneurs, and mechanics. The behind-the-scenes staff also includes Canadians.

"I've known Derek since he was a boy when his father (whom I competed against in the Masters race) took him to weekend bike races and he won a local Canadian race," Adams said.

"Israel Premier Tech is a natural home for Derek, as it is for other aspiring Canadians and Israelis in our development pipeline. With Derek, we JUST . . started. Just getting started. Expect big things to come from these talented riders in the near future.

"We knew Derek had a big engine when we brought him into the U23 Continental program a few years ago. But at this year's Giro, Derek has proven that he is a race pro and capable of competing with the top riders in the pro peloton.

"For Derek, it was a real coming-out party, along with his young teammates who accompanied the Giro team. Therefore, we decided to reward Derek by breaking his neo-pro contract and signing him to a new six-year contract that guarantees his future."

Gee was promoted this season from the team's development team, the Israel Cycling Academy. Italian Marco Frigo made the same move, and was the other mainstay of the breakaway in the Giro, finishing third in the 15th stage to Bergamo.

Sebastian Berwick, a 23-year-old making his Giro debut, also made the podium, as did 21-year-old neo-pro Matthew Riccitello, racing for the first time this year. Elsewhere, second-year pro Corbin Strong has seven top-10 finishes so far this spring.

Gee, who has been called "the future leader of this team" by general manager Kjell Carlström, said he is not sure exactly where his career will take him, but he hopes to get his first pro win, which has made him cringe several times in the Giro.

"Honestly, I can't say exactly which direction I want to go in as a rider or what I want to accomplish in that direction, because I've had so many second places, I'm hungry for my first win and one day I want to win a stage in a Grand Tour.

"I want to continue to grow without necessarily specializing in anything. I can't wait for the next five years with Israel Premier Tech."