Dekker not enjoying Eneco lead

Rabobank's Thomas Dekker is the new overall leader in the Eneco Tour, but he is not enjoying the role. He took over the lead when Nick Nuyens (Cofidis) had to leave the race because of injuries suffered in a crash which also brought down the young Dutchman.

Dekker didn't want to take the lead in that way, and is also suffering from the crash himself. "It is a pity for Nick Nuyens that things end this way," Dekker said on rabobank.nl. "I am not really happy, even though it is nice to have the leader's jersey, of course."

About 40 kilometres into the race, Nuyens fell heavily to the ground and Dekker, who was on his wheel, went down with him. "I immediately had an intense pain in my right leg. I could not even stand on it at first, so I immediately thought the Tour was over for me. I laid there for a few minutes, but it felt better after that so I decided to get back on my bike. The pack held back so we could catch up pretty quickly." The 22 year-old suffered injuries to his right shin and left side of his torso.

Dekker leads José Enrique Gutierrez (Caisse d'Epargne) by four seconds and Saunier Duval's David Millar by six seconds going into Wednesday's final time trial. "First, I am hoping to get a good night's sleep and we will see what happens tomorrow," he continued, worried about his chances. "But I was on my bike in pain for three hours today, so I can take another forty-five minutes."