22-year-old sprinter joins from Dutch Continental team SEG Racing Academy
David Dekker (SEG Racing Academy) finished third at the 2020 Le Samyn Belgian one-day race behind winner Israel Start-Up Nation's Hugo Hofstetter and Circus-Wanty Gobert's Aimé De Gendt(Image credit: Getty Images Sport)
Dutch WorldTour team Jumbo-Visma have announced the signing of current Dutch under-23 road race champion David Dekker, who will join the squad for 2021 from Continental team SEG Racing Academy.
"I'm very happy to have signed with Team Jumbo-Visma," the 22-year-old said on the team's website on Wednesday, having signed a two-year contract. "Besides the fact that it's a Dutch team, the team is growing tremendously.
"Currently, it's one of the best teams in the WorldTour. I think I can make optimal use of the facilities that Team Jumbo-Visma offers to become the best cyclist within my capabilities," said Dekker, who is the son of former pro rider Erik Dekker.
So far this year – having joined SEG Racing Academy from another Dutch Continental team, Metec, at the end of last season – Dekker has taken part in three one-day races, winning two of them and finishing third at the other.
At the end of February, Dekker won the UCI 1.2-ranked Craft Ster van Zwolle in the Netherlands, and also won the Dorpenomloop Rucphen – outsprinting Brenton Jones and the Australian sprinter's British Canyon dhb p/b Soreen teammate Matthew Bostock – less than a week later.
In between those two victories, however, and arguably even more impressively, Dekker finished third at the UCI 1.1-ranked Le Samyn, where he was up against a host of WorldTour teams, and was only beaten by Israel Start-Up Nation's Hugo Hofstetter and Circus-Wanty Gobert's Aimé De Gendt.
"If you look at the past few years, I think this is a logical step in my career," Dekker added of his upcoming move to Jumbo-Visma. "I've made great strides in my development. With that, I enforced this transfer, and I hope to focus on sprinting in the coming years. I can learn a lot from a big sprinter like Dylan Groenewegen."
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Jumbo-Visma sports director Merijn Zeeman added: "David has developed well at Metec in recent years. This spring, he finally broke through at SEG Racing Academy with good performances in the few races that were held.
"We think he is a talented sprinter who can continue to grow in our structure. He is going to have many opportunities," Zeeman said. "In recent years, we as a team have learned a lot from training Dylan. David can take advantage of that."
Cyclingnews is the world's leader in English-language coverage of professional cycling. Started in 1995 by University of Newcastle professor Bill Mitchell, the site was one of the first to provide breaking news and results over the internet in English. The site was purchased by Knapp Communications in 1999, and owner Gerard Knapp built it into the definitive voice of pro cycling. Since then, major publishing house Future PLC has owned the site and expanded it to include top features, news, results, photos and tech reporting. The site continues to be the most comprehensive and authoritative English voice in professional cycling.
