The 25-year-old from
While Denz eventually got to celebrate his second victory in the Giro, Bruno Armirail became the first Frenchman to wear the pink jersey in this century.
“This is the closest one yet. I did everything I could today," Gee said. "I’m sure when I look back, I will be happy but for now, this one really really hurts.”
The Canadian was also runner-up on Stage 8 and 10 and was fourth in Stage 13 Friday.
“I’m disappointed that, after all the work the team did for me, I couldn’t take the win today," said Gee. "The stage was 200 kilometres long but it could have been just a few metres longer, that would have been nice."
Gee is second behind Italian
Canadians have made headlines at the Giro in the past.
Former Canadian cycling star
Denz, who rides for Bora-Hansgrohe, also won Thursday’s 12th stage for his first victory in a Grand Tour, in his sixth Giro.
“I was satisfied already after the first one and I told people to wake me up because this can’t be true, this must be a dream,” Denz said. “I don’t understand really what’s going on right now to be honest.”
That moved Armirail into pink and gave previous leader
Armirail became the first French cyclist to wear the maglia rosa since
“The plan this morning was more about the stage win,” Armirail said. “We thought one day the maglia rosa (pink jersey) could be up for grabs. But we didn’t think it would be today.
“I had tried on the fourth stage and I was disappointed that I wasn’t on a good day. Only once Thomas crossed the line it became a reality in my mind but it’s hard to realize … it’s a dream, I can’t believe it.”
There was one top-category climb near the start at Sierre as the race headed from
A large breakaway of 29 riders eventually escaped on the approach to the climb.
Four riders got away from that bunch with about 60 kilometres remaining but they were caught by the chasing group shortly before the line.
“We put in a massive, massive effort to come back in the last 10K,” Denz said. "Everyone was going full, everyone wanted to go for the victory and not for fourth place. Everyone was looking at each other.
“But I thought, I already have a win so I don’t want to do fourth — either I win or I don’t care. Then I just go all in to the line and here I am again.”
Armirail was 53 seconds behind and faced an anxious wait for the general classification group.
Sunday’s 15th stage has four categorized climbs on the 195-kilometre (121-mile) route from Seregno to
The Giro ends in
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