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Erik Dekker

Personal information
Full name	Erik Dekker
Date of birth	August 21, 1970 (age 36)
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 Dutch professional cyclist 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 Tour of the Netherlands, 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. 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 crashed out of the 2006 Tour de France. He decided to stop as a professional cyclist after his recovery.

In 2007 Erik Dekker wil become one of the managers of the Dutch professional road bicycle racing team Rabobank, the team he was a member of as a cyclist during 1996 until 2006.

Olympic medal record
Men's Cycling
Silver	Barcelona 1992	Individual Road Race

1994

• Tour of Sweden

1995

• Tour of Sweden

1996

• Netherlands National Time Trial Championship

1997

• Tour of the Netherlands: (overall)

1999

• Grand Prix Eddy Merckx (with Marc Wauters)

2000

• Netherlands National Time Trial Championship
• Tour de France: 3 stages
• Tour of the Netherlands: (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

• Netherlands National Road Race Championship
• Paris-Tours

• Official website (Dutch)

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