Thomas Dekker (cyclist)

{{Infobox cyclist

| name = Thomas Dekker

| image = 20130902-DEKKERThomas.jpg

| alt =

| caption = Dekker at the 2013 Tour of Alberta

| fullname = Thomas Dekker

| nickname =

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1984|9|6|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Dirkshorn, Netherlands

| height = {{convert|1.88|m|ftin|abbr=on}}

| weight = {{convert|69|kg|lb st|abbr=on}}

| currentteam = Retired

| discipline = Road

| role = Rider

| ridertype = All-rounder

| proyears1 = 2003–2004

| proteam1 = {{UCI team code|RB3|2003}}

| proyears2 = 2004

| proteam2 = → {{UCI team code|RAB|2004}} (stagiaire)

| proyears3 = 2005–2008

| proteam3 = {{UCI team code|RAB|2005}}

| proyears4 = 2009

| proteam4 = {{UCI team code|SIL|2009}}

| proyears5 = 2011

| proteam5 = {{UCI team code|Chipotle|2011}}

| proyears6 = 2012–2014

| proteam6 = {{UCI team code|GRM|2012a}}

| majorwins = Stage races

:Tirreno–Adriatico (2006)

:Tour de Romandie (2007)

Single-day races and Classics

:National Time Trial Championships (2004, 2005)

| medaltemplates =

}}

Thomas Dekker (born 6 September 1984) is a Dutch former professional road racing cyclist. His career highlights included winning Tirreno–Adriatico in 2006 and Tour de Romandie in 2007. He won two Dutch National Time Trial Championships and represented his country at the 2004 Summer Olympics held in Athens, Greece.

A few days before the start of the 2009 Tour de France, it was announced that Dekker had tested positive for EPO in a retroactive test carried out on a urine sample taken in December 2007. Dekker initially protested his innocence but he later admitted to using EPO, claiming it was a one-time mistake.{{cite web |url=http://www.monstersandcritics.com/sport/othersport/article_1487406.php/Dekker_protests_his_innocence_L_Equipe_hints_at_more_doping |title=Dekker protests his innocence; L'Equipe hints at more doping |publisher=Monsters and Critics |date=2009-07-02 |access-date=2012-06-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121014222041/http://www.monstersandcritics.com/sport/othersport/article_1487406.php/Dekker_protests_his_innocence_L_Equipe_hints_at_more_doping |archive-date=2012-10-14 }}{{cite web|author=Gregor Brown |url=http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/dekkers-counter-analysis-positive-for-epo |title=Dekker's Counter-analysis Positive For EPO |date=30 September 2009 |publisher=Cyclingnews.com |access-date=2012-06-12}} He eventually admitted to using EPO over at least parts of the 2007 and 2008 seasons, although he declined to give exact dates.{{cite web|author=Daniel Benson |url=http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/thomas-dekker-a-dopers-desire-for-redemption |title=Thomas Dekker: A Doper's Desire For Redemption |publisher=Cyclingnews.com |date=2010-07-29 |access-date=2012-06-12}} Dekker was suspended for two years, from 1 July 2009 to 30 June 2011.{{cite web|url=http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/thomas-dekker-to-return-in-sint-niklaas |title=Thomas Dekker To Return In Sint-Niklaas |date=23 June 2011 |publisher=Cyclingnews.com |access-date=2012-06-12}}{{cite web|author=Susan Westemeyer |url=http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/dekker-gets-two-year-suspension-for-epo-use |title=Dekker Gets Two-year Suspension For EPO Use |date=3 March 2010 |publisher=Cyclingnews.com |access-date=2012-06-12}}

Dekker's career has been marked by other doping allegations. He was a client of Luigi Cecchini, an Italian doctor who was investigated in relation to doping matters, though Dekker adamantly denies that Cecchini was involved in his doping.{{cite web|url=http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/dekker-pressured-to-break-with-cecchini |title=Dekker Pressured To Break With Cecchini |date=22 June 2007 |publisher=Cyclingnews.com |access-date=2012-06-12}}{{cite web|url=http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/dekker-chooses-cecchini |title=Dekker Chooses Cecchini |date=27 January 2006 |publisher=Cyclingnews.com |access-date=2012-06-12}}Thomas Dekker, Schoon genoeg, Chapter 7. In 2009 he was also questioned in the Humanplasma doping scandal, a suspected doping ring connected to Austrian manager Stefan Matschiner.{{cite web|url=http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/2523/Boogerd-and-Dekker-questioned-about-HumanPlasma-doping-scandal.aspx |title=Boogerd and Dekker questioned about HumanPlasma doping scandal |publisher=Velonation.com |access-date=2012-06-12}} Dekker retired in March 2015 after narrowly failing to set a new world hour record.{{cite web|url=http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/dekker-retires-fom-cycling|title=Dekker retires fom cycling|author=Cycling News|work=Cyclingnews.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150321202339/https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/dekker-retires-fom-cycling/|archive-date=March 21, 2015}}

Career

=Early years=

Dekker was born and raised in Dirkshorn, North Holland, Netherlands. He was nicknamed "The hulk from Dirkshorn" and joined the Rabobank junior team in 2002, winning the Junior National time trial championships, among other races.{{cite web|url=http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/news/?id=2002/aug02/aug22news |title=www.cyclingnews.com – the world centre of cycling |publisher=Autobus.cyclingnews.com |access-date=2012-06-12}} In 2003 he joined {{UCI team code|RB3|2003}}, the continental team of {{UCI team code|RAB|2003}}, winning two stages of Ster Elekrotoer, and the national under-23 titles in the Road Race and Time Trial disciplines. He also finished third in the Men's under-23 road race of the 2003 UCI Road World Championships.

In 2004 he won the Tour de Normandie, Olympia's Tour, the Dutch National Time Trial Championships and also participated in the 2004 Summer Olympics at the age of 19, finishing 21st in the individual time trial. Later in the season he also won the Grand Prix Eddy Merckx with Koen de Kort but crashed out of the Tour de l'Avenir while he was leading the race. In September he joined the {{UCI team code|RAB|2004}} UCI ProTeam for the rest of the 2004 season as a stagiaire.{{cite web|url=http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2004/sep04/sep07news |title=www.cyclingnews.com – the world centre of cycling |publisher=Autobus.cyclingnews.com |access-date=2012-06-12}} He won a stage of Rheinland-Pfalz Rundfahrt, finished second in both the U23 individual time trial and U23 road race of 2004 UCI Road World Championships and finished first in the UCI U23 Classification of 2004.

=Rabobank=

File:Thomas Dekker 2006.jpg]]

Dekker turned professional in 2005 with {{UCI team code|RAB|2005}}. In his first season as a professional he won Grote Prijs Stad Zottegem and stages of Critérium International and Tour de Pologne. He also repeated his victory in the Dutch National Time Trial Championships and rode the Giro d'Italia.

In 2006 Dekker won the Tirreno–Adriatico stage race, making him the third Dutch cyclist to win the event, after Joop Zoetemelk (1985) and Erik Dekker (2002) and in 2007 the Tour de Romandie stage race, which featured two time trials and several difficult climbing stages in the Alps and Jura.

In 2007, Dekker debuted in the Tour de France. Although he had been dreaming of winning the young rider classification,http://www.tdmagazine.nl/index.php?menu_id=21&nieuws_id=257 {{in lang|nl}} he did not win it. He eventually reached the 35th place in the overall final standings, and sixth in the young rider classification, in the Tour. Dekker finished his 2007 season with his first top ten finish in a 'Classic,' the 2007 Giro di Lombardia.

The 2008 season got off to a promising start, with Dekker coming in 3rd place overall in both the Vuelta a Castilla y León and Tour of the Basque Country and achieving three top-ten finishes in the Ardennes classics. However, after a poor showing in the Tour de Suisse Dekker was not selected by Rabobank for its 2008 Tour de France line-up.http://tour2008.nos.nl/nieuws/artikel/ID/tcm:45-389377/title/thomas-dekker-niet-naar-de-tour {{in lang|nl}}

On 14 August 2008 Dekker officially announced on his web page that he had split from Rabobank.{{cite web|url=http://velonews.competitor.com/2008/08/road/rabobanks-dekker-looking-for-a-new-job_81735 |title=Rabobank's Dekker looking for a new job |publisher=Velonews.competitor.com |date=2008-08-14 |access-date=2012-06-12}} Although an early report in SportWereld said Dekker was on the verge of signing with Garmin-Chipotle,{{cite web|url=http://www.sportwereld.be/Article/Detail.aspx?articleid=GL1V9ULQ |title=Thomas Dekker onderweg naar Garmin-Chipotle – Sportwereld |date=13 August 2008 |publisher=Sportwereld.be |access-date=2012-06-12}} team manager Jonathan Vaughters later denied this rumor. Dekker later revealed in an interview and in his book Schoon Genoeg that Vaughters had been on the verge of signing him, but the deal fell through when Dekker's blood values indicated he'd been doping. According to Dekker, this was the wake-up call he needed to quit using performance-enhancing drugs.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/dekker-says-vaughters-gave-him-a-wake-up-call/|title=Dekker says Vaughters gave him a wake-up call|author=Susan Westemeyer|date=January 22, 2011|website=cyclingnews.com}} On 27 September 2008 it was announced that Dekker had signed a contract with {{UCI team code|SIL|2009}} for two years.{{cite web|url=http://www.telegraaf.nl/telesport/wielersport/2045427/__Dekker_tekent_bij_Silence-Lotto__.html|title=Dekker tekent bij Silence-Lotto|work=telegraaf.nl}}

=Silence-Lotto=

In 2009, Dekker finished a respectable 16th in the Tour of Switzerland, with a highlight of 3rd place in the second, 39 km long, individual time trial.

On 1 July 2009, it was announced that a re-test of an out-of-competition sample taken in December 2007, while Dekker was with Rabobank, was found to contain the banned substance EPO. Silence–Lotto immediately removed him from their team for the 2009 Tour de France.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nu.nl/algemeen/2033543/dopingzondaar-dekker-niet-naar-tour.html|title=Dopingzondaar Dekker niet naar Tour|author=Dennis van Luling|date=July 1, 2009|website=NU}} Once his B-sample confirmed the EPO positive, Silence-Lotto fired Dekker, who admitted doping, apologizing and calling it "a mistake". The Monaco Cycling Federation, where Dekker held his racing license, announced on 3 March 2010 that Dekker had been suspended for two years, until 1 July 2011. In addition, the UCI stripped Dekker of all of his results from 24 December 2007, the date of his positive.{{Cite web|url=http://www.uci.ch/Modules/BUILTIN/getObject.asp?MenuId=MTU3Mjg&ObjTypeCode=FILE&type=FILE&id=NjA4MDA&LangId=1|title=Sanctions, Period of Ineligibily, Disqualification, UCI, 21 May 2010}} According to UCI, Dekker was singled out as a result of the biological passport programme, prompting the UCI to conduct a detailed review of past doping controls.

=Return with Garmin=

{{Quote box

|quote = Even if Jonathan gave me a difficult mission, he was and is always there to support me. He came up with the combination Dekker-Van Summeren for Duo Normand. It reminds him of the duo he was with Jens Voigt, when they won Duo Normand in 2001. He challenged me and Johan to beat the time he had set with Voigt in 2001. And we did it! How cool is that?

|author = Dekker, after winning Duo Normand

|width = 25%

|source = Cyclingnews.com{{cite web|url=http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/dekker-scores-first-win-since-comeback|title=Dekker scores first win since comeback|author=Daniel Benson|work=Cyclingnews.com|date=18 September 2011}}

}}

Dekker returned to racing on 6 July 2011 in the Grote Prijs Stad St. Niklaas, where he finished 70th.{{cite web|url=http://www.rtvnh.nl/sport/59521/Thomas+Dekker+heeft+kriebels+bij+rentree/ |title=RTV N-H – Sport |publisher=Rtvnh.nl |date=2011-07-07 |access-date=2012-06-12}} On 1 August he announced that he had signed with the {{UCI team code|Chipotle|2011}}, the development team of {{UCI team code|GRM|2011}}.{{cite web|url=http://www.seginternational.com/cycling/page=site.news_article/id=850/thomas_dekker_naar_chipotle_development_team.html |title=SEG Cycling | Sports Entertainment Group |publisher=Seginternational.com |access-date=2012-06-12}} On 18 September he won his first race after his comeback. He won the Duo Normand Team Time Trial together with Paris–Roubaix winner Johan Vansummeren. {{UCI team code|GRM|2011|nolink=yes}} team manager Jonathan Vaughters challenged the two to beat the time he himself rode in 2001 with Jens Voigt. Dekker and Vansummeren beat the time of Vaughters and Voigt.

On 18 November 2011, Dekker was confirmed as a {{UCI team code|GRM|2012a}} rider for the 2012 season.{{cite news|url=http://www.slipstreamsports.com/2011/11/18/team-garmin-cervelo-unveils-2012-mens-pro-team-roster|title=Team Garmin-Cervélo unveils 2012 men's Pro Team roster|date=18 November 2011|access-date=3 January 2012|work={{UCI team code|GRM|2011}}|publisher=Slipstream Sports LLC|location=Boulder, Colorado|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118151252/http://www.slipstreamsports.com/2011/11/18/team-garmin-cervelo-unveils-2012-mens-pro-team-roster|archive-date=18 January 2012}} He left the team in November 2014.{{cite web|url=http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/thomas-dekker-to-attempt-hour-record|title=Thomas Dekker to attempt Hour Record|author=Cycling News|work=Cyclingnews.com|date=11 November 2014}} Dekker subsequently announced that he would focus on an attempt to break the world hour record in the spring of 2015 instead of finding a new team for the road cycling season.{{cite web |url=http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/thomas-dekker-will-take-on-hour-record-spring-143813 |title=Thomas Dekker will take on the Hour Record in the spring |last1=Brown |first1=Gregor|date=11 November 2014 |website=Cycling Weekly |access-date=23 November 2014}}

Doping

In a 2013 interview with Dutch daily newspaper NRC Handelsblad, Dekker stated that he started using performance-enhancing drugs when he joined {{UCI team code|RAB|2005}} in 2005. In that team doping (including EPO) had been used since the mid-1990s, and Dekker stated that it was part of the profession: "doping was a way of life".{{cite news|url=http://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2013/01/19/al-vanaf-1996-doping-bij-de-rabobankploeg/|title=Al vanaf 1996 doping bij de Rabo-ploeg – 'doping hoort bij je beroep'|last=Zonneveld|first=Thijs|date=19 January 2013|work=NRC Handelsblad|language=nl|access-date=23 January 2013|trans-title='Doping belongs in your profession' - since 1996 doping in the Rabobank team}} Documents obtained during the Operación Puerto doping case proved that Dekker had been a customer of Eufemiano Fuentes, a well-known sports doctor who had assisted the Kelme team and many cycling professionals with blood doping; Spanish police found bags of Dekker's blood (Dekker was code-named "rider 24" and "Clasicómano Luigi"), and it turned out that he had had at least two transfusions in the spring of 2006, one four days before winning the Tirreno–Adriatico and another before riding the Tour of the Basque Country. In his interview with NRC, he admitted to having used EPO as well.{{cite news|url=http://www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/2698/Sport/article/detail/3381753/2013/01/23/Thomas-Dekker-was-klant-bij-Spaanse-dopingarts-Fuentes.dhtml|title=Thomas Dekker was klant bij Spaanse dopingarts Fuentes|last1=Friele|first1=Robert-Jan|first2=Mark|last2=Misérus|date=23 January 2013|work=de Volkskrant|language=nl|access-date=23 January 2013|trans-title=Thomas Dekker was a client of Spanish doping doctor Fuentes}}

Career achievements

=Major results=

;2003

: National Under-23 Road Championships

::1st {{cjersey|dutch}} Road race

::1st {{cjersey|dutch}} Time trial

: 3rd 15px Road race, UCI Road World Under-23 Championships

: 3rd De Vlaamse Pijl

: 7th Overall Ster Elektrotoer

::1st Prologue & Stage 2

;2004

: 1st {{cjersey|dutch}} Time trial, National Road Championships

: 1st {{cjersey|yellow}} Overall Le Triptyque des Monts et Châteaux

::1st Stage 2

: 1st {{cjersey|yellow}} Overall Tour de Normandie

: 1st {{cjersey|white}} Overall Olympia's Tour

: 1st Grand Prix Eddy Merckx

: 1st Stage 1 Tour de l'Avenir

: UCI Road World Under-23 Championships

::2nd 15px Road race

::2nd 15px Time trial

: 3rd Grand Prix Pino Cerami

: 4th Overall Volta ao Algarve

;2005

: 1st {{cjersey|dutch}} Time trial, National Road Championships

: 1st Grote Prijs Stad Zottegem

: 2nd Overall Critérium International

::1st Stage 2

: 3rd Overall Tour de Pologne

::1st Stage 7 (ITT)

: 4th Overall Eneco Tour

::1st{{cjersey|yellow}} Young rider classification

: 6th Overall Tour Méditerranéen

;2006

: 1st {{cjersey|tirreno}} Overall Tirreno–Adriatico

: 9th Overall Eneco Tour

;2007

: 1st {{cjersey|yellow}} Overall Tour de Romandie

::1st {{cjersey|green}} Points classification

::1st Stage 5 (ITT)

: 1st {{cjersey|yellow}} Overall 3-Länder-Tour

::1st Stages 2 & 4 (ITT)

: 1st Trofeo Pollença

: 1st RaboRonde Heerlen

: 1st Stage 6 Tour de Suisse

: 5th Overall Eneco Tour

: 8th Giro di Lombardia

: 9th Gran Premio Bruno Beghelli

{{Hidden begin

| title = Voided results from 24 December 2007 to 1 July 2009.

| titlestyle = background:lightgrey;

}}

;2008

: ~~3rd Overall Tour of the Basque Country~~

: ~~3rd Overall Vuelta a Castilla y León~~

::~~1st {{cjersey|green}} Points classification~~

: ~~5th Amstel Gold Race~~

: ~~5th La Flèche Wallonne~~

: ~~6th Liège–Bastogne–Liège~~

;2009

: ~~4th Overall Tour of Belgium~~

;2011

: 1st Duo Normand (with Johan Vansummeren)

: 7th Chrono Champenois

;2012

: 1st Stage 2 (TTT) Tour of Qatar

: 5th Overall Circuit de la Sarthe

::1st Stage 5

;2013

: 8th Overall Ster ZLM Toer

;2014

: 5th Overall Ster ZLM Toer

=General classification results timeline=

class="wikitable plainrowheaders" \|colspan=11 align="center"\|Grand Tour general classification results timeline
scope="col" \| Grand Tour ! scope="col" \| 2005 ! scope="col" \| 2006 ! scope="col" \| 2007 ! scope="col" \| 2008 ! scope="col" \| 2009 ! scope="col" \| 2010 ! scope="col" \| 2011 ! scope="col" \| 2012 ! scope="col" \| 2013 ! scope="col" \| 2014
style="text-align:center;" ! scope="row" \| {{cjersey\|pink}} Giro d'Italia \| 75 \| — \| — \| — \| — \| — \| — \| — \| 136 \| DNF
style="text-align:center;" ! scope="row" \| {{cjersey\|yellow}} Tour de France \| — \| — \| 35 \| — \| — \| — \| — \| — \| — \| —
style="text-align:center;" ! scope="row" \| {{cjersey\|gold}}/{{cjersey\|red}} Vuelta a España \| — \| — \| — \| — \| — \| — \| — \| 149 \| — \| —
colspan=11 align="center"\|Major stage race general classification results
Race ! scope="col" \| 2005 ! scope="col" \| 2006 ! scope="col" \| 2007 ! scope="col" \| 2008 ! scope="col" \| 2009 ! scope="col" \| 2010 ! scope="col" \| 2011 ! scope="col" \| 2012 ! scope="col" \| 2013 ! scope="col" \| 2014
style="text-align:center;" ! scope="row" \| {{cjersey\|white}}/{{cjersey\|yellow}} Paris–Nice \| 31 \| — \| — \| — \| — \| — \| — \| 88 \| — \| —
style="text-align:center;" ! scope="row" \| {{cjersey\|tirreno}}/{{cjersey\|azul}} Tirreno–Adriatico \| — \| style="background:yellow; border:2px solid red;" \|1 \| 49 \| — \| 98 \| — \| — \| — \| DNF \| 106
style="text-align:center;" ! scope="row" \| {{cjersey\|Volta a Catalunya}} Volta a Catalunya \| — \| — \| — \| — \| 54 \| — \| — \| — \| — \| —
style="text-align:center;" ! scope="row" \| {{cjersey\|yellow}} Tour of the Basque Country \| — \| 75 \| DNF \| style="background:#ddf;" \|3 \| DNF \| — \| — \| — \| — \| —
style="text-align:center;" ! scope="row" \| {{cjersey\|green}}/{{cjersey\|yellow}} Tour de Romandie \| 33 \| — \| style="background:yellow;" \|1 \| DNF \| — \| — \| — \| — \| — \| —
style="text-align:center;" ! scope="row" \| {{cjersey\|Dauphine}} Critérium du Dauphiné \| — \| 71 \| — \| — \| — \| — \| — \| — \| — \| —
style="text-align:center;" ! scope="row" \| {{cjersey\|yellow}} Tour de Suisse \| — \| — \| 39 \| DNF \| 16 \| — \| — \| DNF \| — \| —

class="wikitable plainrowheaders"

|colspan=11 align="center"|Grand Tour general classification results timeline

scope="col" | Grand Tour

! scope="col" | 2005

! scope="col" | 2006

! scope="col" | 2007

! scope="col" | 2008

! scope="col" | 2009

! scope="col" | 2010

! scope="col" | 2011

! scope="col" | 2012

! scope="col" | 2013