# Niko Eeckhout

Niko Eeckhout (born 16 December 1970) is a Belgian former road racing cyclist who rode professionally between 1992 and 2013. He was the 2005–2006 UCI Europe Tour Series Champion and won the 2006 Belgian National Cycling Championship Road Race. After retiring from racing he became a coach, initially with his final professional team An Post–Chain Reaction.

## Career

Born in Izegem, Eeckhout started his career in 1993 riding for the small Collstrop-team. He immediately started winning minor Belgian races like the Championship of Flanders and the Omloop Mandel-Leie-Schelde. In 1997 and 1998 he rode for Lotto–Mobistar–Isoglass, and then rode two years for Palmans. Eeckhout had a breakthrough season when he transferred to Lotto-Adecco in 2001, winning 11 races, including Dwars door Vlaanderen and the GP van Steenbergen.
Eeckhout struggled through the next two seasons and at the end of 2004 his contract with Lotto-Adecco ended and he needed to find a new team. He signed with the Belgian squad Chocolade Jacques and found his second youth. He started the 2005 season by winning Dwars door Vlaanderen, and went on to win major races including the Grand Prix d'Isbergues and a stage of the Three Days of De Panne. In 2006 he continued his winning form, taking the Three Days of West-Flanders. In June 2006 he won the biggest race in his career, the Belgian National Road Championship in Antwerp by beating Tom Boonen and Philippe Gilbert. Eeckhout had another great season in 2006, winning 12 races, including the 2005-2006 UCI Europe Tour. In the peloton he earned the nickname "Rambo" for being particularly tough during hard races in severe conditions.
Eeckhout joined An Post–M.Donnelly–Grant Thornton–Sean Kelly in 2009 and won five races in his first season with the team. The thirty-eight year old said this would be his last professional team and that he had already discussed moving into management with team boss Sean Kelly and general manager Kurt Bogaerts. He also brought new sponsors, with the construction and truck repair companies owned by his brothers giving financial and logistical support to the team.
Eeckhout followed up the team's 2008 general classification success at the Vuelta a Extremadura with two stage victories at the Spanish race, and took a stage and the points jersey at Rás Tailteann. He also scored one-day race wins at Grote Prijs Stad Zottegem and Memorial Rik Van Steenbergen, as well as a second-place finish at Dwars door Vlaanderen.
He spent five seasons racing with the Irish team and took a further five wins including Schaal Sels and Omloop der Kempen in 2012, both achieved at the age of forty-one. In 2013 he had two podium results and retired at the end of the season aged forty-three. As planned when he joined the team in 2009, he remained with the squad as a directeur sportif.

## Major achievements
### 1992

    1st Kattekoers
    1st Stage 3 Tour de Liège
    3rd Nationale Sluitingprijs

### 1993

    1st Omloop der Vlaamse Ardennen Ichtegem
    1st Omloop van de Vlaamse Scheldeboorden
    1st Stages 2 & 3 Tour du Poitou-Charentes
    2nd GP Rik Van Steenbergen

### 1994

    4th Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne

### 1995

    2nd GP Stad Zottegem

### 1996

    1st Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen
    1st Omloop van het Waasland
    1st Grand Prix de la Ville de Lillers
    3rd A Travers le Morbihan
    4th Paris–Bourges
    4th Le Samyn
    5th Veenendaal–Veenendaal
    6th GP Rik Van Steenbergen
    8th Grote Prijs Jef Scherens

### 1997

    1st Omloop van het Waasland
    1st Grand Prix de la Ville de Lillers
    4th Nokere Koerse
    6th Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne
    9th Cholet-Pays de Loire

### 1998

    1st Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen

### 1999

    1st Omloop van de Westhoek
    2nd De Kustpijl
    2nd Omloop van het Waasland
    2nd Leeuwse Pijl
    3rd Grand Prix de Denain
    4th Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen

### 2000

    1st Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen
    1st Grand Prix Rudy Dhaenens
    1st Omloop van het Houtland
    1st Omloop van de Westhoek
    2nd Ronde van Midden-Zeeland
    2nd Veenendaal–Veenendaal
    3rd Sparkassen Giro Bochum
    3rd GP Aarhus
    3rd Grand Prix Midtbank
    4th Grand Prix Pino Cerami
    4th Nokere Koerse
    5th Paris–Brussels

### 2001

    1st Overall Étoile de Bessèges
       1st Points classification
       1st Stage 1
    1st Dwars door Vlaanderen
    1st Ronde van Midden-Zeeland
    1st Memorial Rik Van Steenbergen
    1st Grote Prijs Jef Scherens
    1st Stage 3 Circuit Franco-Belge
    2nd Paris–Brussels
    3rd Schaal Sels
    3rd Cholet-Pays de Loire
    3rd Nokere Koerse
    9th Overall Danmark Rundt
       1st Stage 2
    9th Overall Three Days of De Panne
       1st Points classification
    9th Paris–Tours

### 2002

    4th Overall Three Days of De Panne
    6th Dwars door Vlaanderen
    8th Nokere Koerse
    9th GP Rik Van Steenbergen
    9th Schaal Sels

### 2003

    1st Memorial Rik Van Steenbergen
    1st Stage 1 Tour de Wallonie
    2nd Omloop van de Vlaamse Scheldeboorden
    3rd Grote Prijs Jef Scherens

### 2004

    1st Ronde van Midden-Zeeland
    1st Stage 4 Ster Elektrotoer
    2nd Memorial Rik Van Steenbergen
    6th Dwars door Vlaanderen
    7th Overall Circuit Franco-Belge
    10th Paris–Brussels

### 2005

    1st Dwars door Vlaanderen
    1st Grand Prix d'Isbergues
    1st Grote Prijs Beeckman-De Caluwé
    1st Omloop van de Vlaamse Scheldeboorden
    1st Stage 2 Three Days of De Panne
    4th Paris–Brussels
    4th Omloop Het Volk
    4th Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne
    5th Overall Tour of Belgium
    5th Scheldeprijs
    6th Nationale Sluitingprijs
    8th Veenendaal–Veenendaal
    8th Omloop van het Waasland

### 2006

    1st Overall UCI Europe Tour
    1st Road race, National Road Championships
    1st Overall Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen
       1st Stage 3
    1st Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen
    1st Omloop van het Waasland
    1st Memorial Rik Van Steenbergen
    Circuit Franco-Belge
       1st Points classification
       1st Stage 3
    2nd Omloop van het Houtland
    2nd Cholet-Pays de Loire
    4th Ronde van Midden-Zeeland
    4th Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne
    4th Scheldeprijs
    4th Dwars door Vlaanderen
    6th Omloop van de Vlaamse Scheldeboorden
    7th Overall Tour of Belgium
    8th Halle–Ingooigem

### 2007

    1st Omloop van het Waasland
    2nd Memorial Rik Van Steenbergen
    3rd Omloop van het Houtland
    4th Overall Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen
    6th Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen

### 2008

    1st Omloop van het Waasland
    2nd Overall Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen
    3rd Road race, National Road Championships
    3rd Dutch Food Valley Classic
    3rd Dwars door Vlaanderen
    4th Ronde van het Groene Hart
    5th Omloop van de Vlaamse Scheldeboorden
    5th Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen
    6th Overall Tour de Picardie
    7th Nokere Koerse
    10th Omloop van het Houtland

### 2009

    1st Grote Prijs Stad Zottegem
    1st Memorial Briek Schotte-Desselgem
    1st Memorial Rik Van Steenbergen
    FBD Insurance Ras
       1st Points classification
       1st Stage 1
    1st Stages 4 & 5 Vuelta a Extremadura
    2nd Dwars door Vlaanderen
    3rd Omloop van het Houtland
    6th Omloop van het Waasland
    7th Sparkassen Giro
    10th Nokere Koerse

### 2010

    1st Stage 5 Étoile de Bessèges
    1st Stage 3 Ronde de l'Oise
    2nd Ronde van het Groene Hart
    7th Omloop Het Nieuwsblad

### 2011

    3rd Handzame Classic
    4th Omloop van het Waasland
    8th Overall Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen
       1st Stage 2

### 2012

    1st Wanzeel Koerse
    1st Omloop der Kempen
    1st Schaal Sels
    3rd Dwars door het Hageland
    5th Ronde van Noord-Holland
    7th Overall Ronde de l'Oise
    8th Kampioenschap van Vlaanderen

### 2013

    2nd Omloop van het Waasland
    2nd Zuid Oost Drenthe Classic I
    5th Grote Prijs Wase Polders
    6th Arno Wallaard Memorial