Dutchman wants to start from scratch in sport of cycling
Thomas Dekker is currently serving a two-year suspension for doping, eligible to race again in July of 2011. He fell foul to retroactive testing and was subsequently fired from his Silence-Lotto team. The Dutchman has come to terms with the whole thing and now wants a clean start. He is concentrating on what he calls the most important things in cycling.
Dekker is not surprised that he started the doping program. “I was open to it, that is the personality I have,” he told Dutch paper Algemeen Dagblad. “Once you start using that stuff, you think it belongs there.” Dekker was not giving it a second thought. “You are not aware of the risk you are taking. You are little bit outside of reality.”
Sunnyboy Dekker put the time since the beginning of his suspension to good use, heading to festivals and parties. “It’s been a while since I haven’t been by myself,” he said. “I went from one chance to go out to the next. To Ibiza. In August I was in Italy, Saint Tropez, Monaco.”
At some point he was tired of it and met up with his youth friend Martijn Berkhout. Martijn Berkhout and his brother Eelco are managing a string of professional cyclists with their Sport Entertainment Group company. The duo was able to help Dekker see what is important. “Reflection showed me that I need to go back to my base. Training and resting is the most important.”
Dekker started out with the Rabobank Continental team in 2003, then moved over the professional side in 2005. He soon showed his worth, finishing second in the Critérium International. His time trial abilities quickly showed, taking eighth place in the first Giro d’Italia time trial. He became Dutch time trial champion and also took the race against the clock in the Tour de Pologne.
In 2006 he won the Tirreno-Adriatico stage race. The next year was his best yet, winning the Tour de Romandie and the 3-Länder-Tour. In 2008 he had good results, such as fifth places in the Amstel Gold Race and Flèche Wallonne. But dark clouds were rising, with his Rabobank team concerned about his blood profile. His contract ended mid-season.
He was picked up for 2009 by the Silence-Lotto team, for which he raced until the Tour de Suisse. The positive test for Dynepo just ahead of the 2009 Tour de France ended his time with the Belgian team and his time in the professional peloton. The sample was taken on December 24, 2007, and retroactively tested. All his results since that Christmas Eve Day were canceled by the UCI (including the above mentioned fifth place in the spring classics).