The last Grand Tour Thomas Dekker rode was the 2007 Tour de France; his wait to return to the top stage races in cycling will take a while longer, with the news that he will not take part in the Vuelta a España this year.
The Dutchman’s management agency SEG International has announced that the rider and his Garmin-Sharp team have decided that he will focus on shorter events for the rest of the season. He will also miss the Eneco Tour.
Handed a lengthy suspension after testing positive for EPO, Dekker became eligible to compete again on June 30th last year. He signed an agreement to race with the Chipotle-Sugar Labs team, Garmin-Sharp’s development squad, and later finalised a contract to return to the top level with the WorldTour team.
His best results this year were a stage win and fifth overall in the Circuit de la Sarthe in April, and thirteenth on a stage plus in the general classification of the Bayern Rundfahrt. Next up is the Clasica San Sebastian in twelve days’ time.
“I have done a large number of races in my first year on the World Tour level,” said the 27 year old. “Now it's time to get in shape and perform well until the end of the season.”