Erik Dekker
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Erik Dekker |
| Team information | |
| Current team | Rabobank |
| Discipline | Road |
| Role | Directeur sportif |
| Rider type | Classics specialist |
| 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
| |
Hendrik ("Erik") Dekker (born August 21, 1970 in Hoogeveen) is a retired Dutch professional road racing cyclist who was active from 1992 until 2006. He was a member of the Rabobank cycling team from 1996 till 2006. As of 2007 he is one of Rabobank's team managers.
Dekker rode his first race at an age of eight, and soon became a successful cyclist. 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 a professional cyclist.
His first win as a professional was a stage in the Vuelta al País Vasco of 1994. In that year he also entered the Tour de France for the first time. In 1997 Erik Dekker won the Ronde van Nederland, but a large part of 1998 was lost because of injuries.
The year 2000 was the best year for Dekker in his career. He won three stages in the 2000 Tour de France, a great achievement for a cyclist who was 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 race, 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 earlier on. At the end of the year he was named Dutch Sportsman of the year.
The years 2002 and 2003 were less successful for Dekker because of injuries. He came back strong in 2004, with some top finishes in the spring classics and an impressive victory in Paris-Tours. He had announced his retirement to be the autumn of 2006, but during the 2006 Tour de France he experienced a serious crash and needed to be admitted into the hospital. He decided to stop as a professional cyclist after his recovery.
In 2007 Erik Dekker has become one of the managers of the Dutch professional road bicycle racing team Rabobank, the team he was a member of as a cyclist from 1996 until 2006.
Major results
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Representing the Netherlands
| ||
| Road bicycle racing | ||
| Olympic Games | ||
 |
Barcelona 1992 | Individual Road Race |
- 1994
- 1995
- Tour of Sweden
- 1996
Netherlands National Time Trial Championship
- 1997
- Ronde van Nederland: (overall)
- 1999
- GP Eddy Merckx (with Marc Wauters)
- Ronde van Nederland: (2nd overall)
- 2000
- Netherlands National Time Trial Championship
- Tour de France: 3 stages
- Ronde van Nederland: (overall)
- Clásica de San Sebastián
- 2001
- UCI Road World Cup Champion
- Tour de France: 1 stage
- Ruta del Sol
- Amstel Gold Race
- 2002
- Netherlands National Time Trial Championship
- Tirreno-Adriatico: (overall)
- 2003
- Grand Prix Erik Breukink
- 2004
- 7th, Amstel Gold Race
- Netherlands National Road Race Championship
- Paris-Tours