Erik Dekker

Hendrik "Erik" Dekker (born 21 August 1970) is a retired Dutch professional road racing cyclist active from 1992 until 2006. He was a member of the Rabobank cycling team from 1992 till 2006. From 2007 to 2015 he was one of Rabobank's team managers.

Amateur career
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. In that Olympic road race, Dekker got away at 30 km before the finish, together with Fabio Casartelli and Dainis Ozols. Dekker was outsprinted by Casartelli, but was so happy that he won a medal that he also finished with his arms in the air.

Directly after the Olympic Games, he became professional, and rode his first race a few weeks later in the Tour de l'Avenir.

Professional career
His first win as a professional was a stage of the Tour of the Basque Country of 1994, the year he rode his first Tour 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 combative 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 teammate 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.

Managing career
In 2007, Dekker started as team manager of the Rabobank team. At the end of the 2015 season, he left the team.

Major results

 * 1991
 * 2nd Overall Olympia's Tour
 * 1st Stage 5b (ITT)
 * 3rd Ronde van Overijssel
 * 7th Overall Tour of Sweden


 * 1992
 * Tour de l'Avenir
 * 1st Stages 8 & 10
 * 2nd Silver medal olympic.svg Road race, Olympic Games
 * 3rd Overall GP Tell
 * 1st Prologue
 * 8th Milano–Torino
 * 10th GP des Amériques


 * 1994
 * 1st Overall Tour of Sweden
 * 1st Prologue & Stage 6b (ITT)
 * 1st Stage 1 Tour of the Basque Country
 * 7th Overall Tour de Luxembourg


 * 1995
 * 1st Overall Tour of Sweden
 * 1st Prologue & Stage 3a (ITT)
 * 1st Grote Prijs Jef Scherens
 * 1st Rund um Köln
 * 6th Overall Tour de Luxembourg


 * 1996
 * National Road Championships
 * 1st MaillotHolanda.PNG Time trial
 * 3rd Road race
 * 1st Seraing-Aachen-Seraing
 * 5th Overall Ronde van Nederland
 * 6th Overall Regio-Tour
 * 1st Prologue
 * 10th Grand Prix des Nations


 * 1997
 * 1st Overall Ronde van Nederland
 * 1st Stage 3b (ITT)
 * 2nd Time trial, National Road Championships
 * 7th Overall Route du Sud
 * 10th GP Rik Van Steenbergen


 * 1998
 * 2nd Overall Tour de Luxembourg
 * 10th Time trial, UCI Road World Championships


 * 1999
 * 1st Grand Prix Eddy Merckx (with Marc Wauters)
 * 2nd Overall Rheinland-Pfalz Rundfahrt
 * 1st Stages 2b (ITT) & 6
 * 2nd Overall Ronde van Nederland
 * 2nd Time trial, National Road Championships
 * 2nd Trofeo Calvià
 * 3rd Veenendaal–Veenendaal
 * 7th Overall KBC Driedaagse van De Panne-Koksijde
 * 7th Clásica de San Sebastián
 * 7th HEW Cyclassics
 * 8th Time trial, UCI Road World Championships
 * 9th Overall Vuelta a Andalucía
 * 10th Coppa Sabatini


 * 2000
 * 1st Overall Ronde van Nederland
 * 1st Prologue
 * Tour de France
 * 1st Stages 8, 11 & 17
 * Jersey red number.svg Combativity award Overall
 * 1st Clásica de San Sebastián
 * 1st Josef Voegeli Memorial
 * National Road Championships
 * 1st MaillotHolanda.PNG Time trial
 * 3rd Road race
 * 2nd Overall Tour of Sweden
 * 1st Prologue & Stage 3
 * 3rd Grand Prix Eddy Merckx (with Marc Wauters)
 * 4th Le Samyn
 * 7th Clásica de Almería


 * 2001
 * 1st Mens World Cup leaders jersey.png UCI Road World Cup
 * 1st Amstel Gold Race
 * 1st Grand Prix Eddy Merckx (with Marc Wauters)
 * 1st Overall Guldensporentweedaagse
 * 1st Stage 1
 * 1st Overall Rheinland-Pfalz Rundfahrt
 * 1st Stage 2
 * 1st Overall Vuelta a Andalucía
 * 1st Stage 8 Tour de France
 * 2nd Tour of Flanders
 * 2nd Overall Ronde van Nederland
 * 1st Stage 6
 * 2nd Overall KBC Driedaagse van De Panne-Koksijde
 * 3rd HEW Cyclassics
 * 4th Road race, UCI Road World Championships
 * 5th Züri-Metzgete
 * 5th Rund um Köln
 * 8th Liège–Bastogne–Liège
 * 9th Clásica de San Sebastián


 * 2002
 * 1st Jersey yellowred.svg Overall Tirreno–Adriatico
 * 1st Stage 4 (ITT)
 * 1st Overall Guldensporentweedaagse
 * 1st Stage 3
 * 1st MaillotHolanda.PNG Time trial, National Road Championships
 * 1st Trofeo Calvià
 * 2nd Overall Ronde van Nederland
 * 3rd Grand Prix Eddy Merckx (with Marc Wauters)
 * 6th Overall Vuelta a Andalucía
 * 1st Stage 5
 * 6th Overall Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana


 * 2003
 * 1st Overall Grote Prijs Erik Breukink
 * 2nd Tour Beneden-Maas


 * 2004
 * 1st Overall Ronde van Nederland
 * 1st Stage 6
 * 1st MaillotHolanda.PNG Road race, National Road Championships
 * 1st Paris–Tours
 * 1st Ronde van Drenthe
 * 1st Noord-Nederland Tour
 * 5th Tour of Flanders
 * 5th Liège–Bastogne–Liège
 * 7th Amstel Gold Race
 * 8th Overall Vuelta a Andalucía


 * 2005
 * 2nd Overall Eneco Tour
 * 2nd Time trial, National Road Championships
 * 7th E3 Prijs Vlaanderen


 * 2006
 * 1st Stage 2 Ster Elektrotoer (ITT)
 * 1st Egmond-pier-Egmond
 * 2nd Overall Critérium International
 * 1st Stage 1
 * National Road Championships
 * 2nd Time trial
 * 6th Road race
 * 7th Overall Paris–Nice