You could, or you keep the name you like the most (at least that's the case for the married people I know). A cycling example is Vingegaard who kept the name Vingegaard when he married but changed Rasmussen to his wife's surname Hansen. I really don't see how taking your wife's name is bizarre lol
Fwiw the double barrel names he has is a very french-canadian tradition and he and his wife are both from a very bilingual area of Canada, while it may seem strange from the outside it’s pretty normal for where he’s from. If you marry with double barrel names you either drop one of the names each and combine for a new one or each keep your maiden name and not change them, kids then get the fathers last name or again a combo of dropped names. It’s a bit of a convoluted way of making sure both sides of the family are represented
Source: I’m also from his hometown, french-canadian and have a double barreled last name
ah fair, i’m not sure why but I assumed Ruby was also from the Ottawa area/Valley
On a side note I see a lot of young Gen-Z/millennial anglophones couples from around Ottawa adopting this french tradition, which also tracks with the Gee-West’s decision to combine names
If you follow skiing at all, you may be familiar with the retired ski racer from Quebec, Marie-Michele Gagnon. Her husband is retired U.S. ski racer Travis Ganong. It would be funny but really confusing if they kept that tradition as Ganong-Gagnon.
I guess they will send the trident of Ayuso-Skjelmose-Gee to the Tour? Ciccone will go for stages and Mads will go for the green jersey. I wonder who will be left to perform leadout/domestique duties, Simmons and Vacek maybe? On paper the squad looks stacked but there are simply too many leaders for it to function properly.
"He (Milan) will be joined by Ciccone, who has made the decision to prioritise stage hunting over the general classification. This leaves a spot for a general classification leader, and Gee-West is ‘very likely’ to join the Giro squad according to Sports Director Kim Andersen, who also highlighted the Canadian’s ability to look out for himself with minimal support. This attribute is something that is ideal when you are trying to balance the opportunities and ambitions of multiple leaders."
"Meanwhile, Ayuso is set as the Tour de France GC leader, with Skjelmose in a key support role with the trade-off that the Dane goes to the Vuelta as leader. Mads Pedersen also returns to the Tour after a year’s absence."
After winning the 2020 Giro he was quite quiet until he was than excellent in the 2023 Giro before he broke his hip (honestly think he might have one that too without the crash).
Now he has been quiet for a few years again and the 2026 Giro is coming up.
Let’s Hope their GC ambitions don’t stand in the way of Mads doing Mads things in the Tour. He should be alright though. Really Hope they can put up a fight for the podium at at least one GT.
Despite UAE's dominance and Visma's continued success, Lidl-Trek still enjoyed an exceptional 2025 finishing third in the UCI rankings. Their tally of 46 victories, their most bountiful haul yet, was topped only by UAE and Soudal-QuickStep. Highlights included nine Grand Tour stage wins, top 10 finishes in all five monuments, as well as victories in Gent-Wevelgem, Amstel Gold Race, and Donostia Klaiskoa San Sebastian.
Only UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Visma | Lease a Bike featured more riders in the top 100 of these rankings than Lidl-Trek, proving that the outfit has firmly established itself as one of the strongest teams in the sport.
The stats don’t lie either, as Lidl-Trek finished 12th in the UCI team rankings in 2021 and 2022, before leaping to fifth in 2023. Since then, the team have continued to stride up the rankings, supported by the introduction of Lidl as a title sponsor, to finish fourth in 2024, and third in 2025.
Naturally, the margins for improvement become increasingly slim the more success that a team achieves, but Lidl-Trek have signalled their intent to march on with their progression with six new signings in the transfer market, but the two that stand out are Gee-West and Juan Ayuso, bolstering the squad’s GC ranks.
The general classification department was the one most in need of reinforcements this winter if the team wanted to continue to progress and compete with UAE and Visma, and they have now addressed that by signing Juan Ayuso and Gee-West.
With Mads Pedersen and Jonathan Milan, plus the exceptional sprint train specialists, Lidl-Trek already excel when it comes to sprinting, with multiple Grand Tour stage wins in bunch finishes. They also won the points classifications in all three Grand Tours in 2025 through Milan (Tour) and Pedersen (Giro and Vuelta).
Would be cool if Lidl-Trek could podium one or more GTs this year. I’m happy for Gee-West finding a home. Also hope he and Tao can work well together, both being English speakers might help that along.
Lidl could win all three KOM jerseys this year with Skjelmose, Ayuso, Gee, and/or Ciccone if that's what they wanted to do. They won all three points jerseys last year. Keep the trend up!
When did he become Gee-West?
He got married this past late summer/fall.
[deleted]
You could, or you keep the name you like the most (at least that's the case for the married people I know). A cycling example is Vingegaard who kept the name Vingegaard when he married but changed Rasmussen to his wife's surname Hansen. I really don't see how taking your wife's name is bizarre lol
Fwiw the double barrel names he has is a very french-canadian tradition and he and his wife are both from a very bilingual area of Canada, while it may seem strange from the outside it’s pretty normal for where he’s from. If you marry with double barrel names you either drop one of the names each and combine for a new one or each keep your maiden name and not change them, kids then get the fathers last name or again a combo of dropped names. It’s a bit of a convoluted way of making sure both sides of the family are represented
Source: I’m also from his hometown, french-canadian and have a double barreled last name
Spot on for Derek.
I'd add that Ruby is not from a very bilingual area, though. She was west of Toronto. Raced both her and Derek 5-10 years back.
ah fair, i’m not sure why but I assumed Ruby was also from the Ottawa area/Valley
On a side note I see a lot of young Gen-Z/millennial anglophones couples from around Ottawa adopting this french tradition, which also tracks with the Gee-West’s decision to combine names
If you follow skiing at all, you may be familiar with the retired ski racer from Quebec, Marie-Michele Gagnon. Her husband is retired U.S. ski racer Travis Ganong. It would be funny but really confusing if they kept that tradition as Ganong-Gagnon.
Well said!
Good to see you in the wild Mr. Two Plankin-Wiz. You should keep Plankin when you marry.
I guess they will send the trident of Ayuso-Skjelmose-Gee to the Tour? Ciccone will go for stages and Mads will go for the green jersey. I wonder who will be left to perform leadout/domestique duties, Simmons and Vacek maybe? On paper the squad looks stacked but there are simply too many leaders for it to function properly.
"He (Milan) will be joined by Ciccone, who has made the decision to prioritise stage hunting over the general classification. This leaves a spot for a general classification leader, and Gee-West is ‘very likely’ to join the Giro squad according to Sports Director Kim Andersen, who also highlighted the Canadian’s ability to look out for himself with minimal support. This attribute is something that is ideal when you are trying to balance the opportunities and ambitions of multiple leaders."
"Meanwhile, Ayuso is set as the Tour de France GC leader, with Skjelmose in a key support role with the trade-off that the Dane goes to the Vuelta as leader. Mads Pedersen also returns to the Tour after a year’s absence."
It makes me sad that Tao hasn’t shown anything recently to make a Quadrant
After winning the 2020 Giro he was quite quiet until he was than excellent in the 2023 Giro before he broke his hip (honestly think he might have one that too without the crash).
Now he has been quiet for a few years again and the 2026 Giro is coming up.
he peaks every 3 years for the giro 🙏
Let’s Hope their GC ambitions don’t stand in the way of Mads doing Mads things in the Tour. He should be alright though. Really Hope they can put up a fight for the podium at at least one GT.
Despite UAE's dominance and Visma's continued success, Lidl-Trek still enjoyed an exceptional 2025 finishing third in the UCI rankings. Their tally of 46 victories, their most bountiful haul yet, was topped only by UAE and Soudal-QuickStep. Highlights included nine Grand Tour stage wins, top 10 finishes in all five monuments, as well as victories in Gent-Wevelgem, Amstel Gold Race, and Donostia Klaiskoa San Sebastian.
Only UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Visma | Lease a Bike featured more riders in the top 100 of these rankings than Lidl-Trek, proving that the outfit has firmly established itself as one of the strongest teams in the sport.
The stats don’t lie either, as Lidl-Trek finished 12th in the UCI team rankings in 2021 and 2022, before leaping to fifth in 2023. Since then, the team have continued to stride up the rankings, supported by the introduction of Lidl as a title sponsor, to finish fourth in 2024, and third in 2025.
Naturally, the margins for improvement become increasingly slim the more success that a team achieves, but Lidl-Trek have signalled their intent to march on with their progression with six new signings in the transfer market, but the two that stand out are Gee-West and Juan Ayuso, bolstering the squad’s GC ranks.
The general classification department was the one most in need of reinforcements this winter if the team wanted to continue to progress and compete with UAE and Visma, and they have now addressed that by signing Juan Ayuso and Gee-West.
With Mads Pedersen and Jonathan Milan, plus the exceptional sprint train specialists, Lidl-Trek already excel when it comes to sprinting, with multiple Grand Tour stage wins in bunch finishes. They also won the points classifications in all three Grand Tours in 2025 through Milan (Tour) and Pedersen (Giro and Vuelta).
Would be cool if Lidl-Trek could podium one or more GTs this year. I’m happy for Gee-West finding a home. Also hope he and Tao can work well together, both being English speakers might help that along.
Lidl could win all three KOM jerseys this year with Skjelmose, Ayuso, Gee, and/or Ciccone if that's what they wanted to do. They won all three points jerseys last year. Keep the trend up!
Strange Derek took his wife’s last name. Not the first time we saw it in cycling (Jonas)
Apparently we’re in the minority but yeah I agree