Erik Dekker

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Erik Dekker

Personal information
Full name	Erik Dekker
Date of birth	August 21, 1970 (1970-08-21) (age 37)
Country	Netherlands
Team information
Current team	Rabobank
Discipline	Road
Role	Directeur sportif
Rider type	Classics specialist
Professional team(s)
1992–2006	Rabobank
Managerial team(s)
2007–	Rabobank
Major wins
UCI Road World Cup (2001) Tour de France, 4 stages Amstel Gold Race (2001) Clásica de San Sebastián (2000) Paris-Tours (2004) Tirreno-Adriatico (2002) Tour of Netherlands (1997, 2000) National Champion (2004) National Time-Trial Champion (1996, 2000, 2002)
Infobox last updated on:
January 11, 2007

Hendrik ("Erik") Dekker (born August 21, 1970 in Hoogeveen) is a retired Dutch professional road racing cyclist active from 1992 until 2006. He was a member of the Rabobank cycling team from 1996 till 2006. In 2007 he became one of Rabobank's team managers.

Dekker rode his first race at eight, and soon became successful. In 1985 he was invited to join the national selection for juniors. As an amateur, his most important results were second places at the youth world championships in Bergamo in 1987 and at the road race in the 1992 Summer Olympics. Directly after the Olympic Games, he became professional.

His first win as a professional was a stage of the Vuelta al País Vasco of 1994, the year he rode his firstTour de France. In 1997 Dekker won the Ronde van Nederland, but a large part of 1998 was lost because of injuries.

The year 2000 was Dekker's best. He won three stages in the 2000 Tour de France, although neither a sprinter nor a favourite for the overall win, and was voted most combatitive cyclist. In the autumn of that year, Dekker won his first classic, the Clásica de San Sebastián.

In 2001 Dekker won the Amstel Gold Race and the UCI Road World Cup.In the 2001 Tour de France he took a stage, after having helped his team mate Marc Wauters to a stage win. At the end of the year he was named Dutch Sportsman of the year.

The years 2002 and 2003 were less successful because of injuries. He came back in 2004 in the spring classics and a victory in Paris-Tours. He had announced his retirement for the autumn of 2006, but he crashed heavily in the 2006 Tour de France and decided to stop .

[edit] Major results

Medal record
Competitor for the  Netherlands
Road bicycle racing
Olympic Games
Silver	Barcelona 1992	Individual Road Race

[edit] External links

• Official website (Dutch)

Sporting positions
Preceded by Erik Zabel	UCI Road World Cup Champion 2001	Succeeded by Paolo Bettini
Awards
Preceded by Pieter van den Hoogenband	Dutch Sportsman of the Year 2001	Succeeded by Jochem Uytdehaage