Dekker and Rabobank call it quits

By Susan Westemeyer

The end of Thomas Dekker's rocky relationship with his team came quickly Thursday afternoon, when Rabobank announced that they are parting company with the promising young rider, effective immediately. The team and rider were unable to reconcile their "differences of opinion", according to a statement. Dekker's contract will end as of Friday, August 15, and he will then be free to look for a new team.

Dekker's manager, Martijn Berkhout, confirmed that Dekker has left Rabobank. He denied rumours that the 23 year-old would sign with the US team Garmin-Chipotle, telling Cyclingnews, "I can tell you that he is not going to Garmin, 150%. We are speaking with several teams at the moment. But we want to take our time. It's an important decision and Thomas wants to be 100% sure to take the right one. In addition, he must get used about the idea that he is not a Rabobank rider anymore."

Dekker has in fact been a Rabobank rider for six years, having joined the Rabobank junior team in 2002. He moved up to the ProTour team in 2005. While wearing the orange-and-blue jersey, he has brought in a number of wins, including including the overall titles in Tirreno-Adriatico (2006) and the Tour de Romandie (2007).