# 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.

## Cycling career
### 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 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 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
       Combativity award Overall
    1st Clásica de San Sebastián
    1st Josef Voegeli Memorial
    National Road Championships
       1st 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 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 Overall Tirreno–Adriatico
       1st Stage 4 (ITT)
    1st Overall Guldensporentweedaagse
       1st Stage 3
    1st 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 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