Erik Dekker did not start in yesterday's first stage of the Tour of Poland. The 35-year-old Rabobank veteran is currently suffering from a bout of the flu and decided it wouldn't be best to start in Poland. The race was supposed to be Dekker's return to competition after breaking his collarbone at the Tour De Rijke on August 20. After recovering quickly from that injury in order to make the Dutch world championships team, this is another setback he could do without so close to the September 25 race in Madrid.
Dekker sent Dutch national coach Egon van Kessel a text message on Monday morning about the extent of his illness. "Erik is a healthy fellow, but it's normally difficult to get rid of this type of fever," van Kessel said. "It's a pity that he now looks in doubt for the world championships. I hope that Erik can recover by later on this week, as we want him to ride GP Wallonie on Wednesday and then GP d'Isbergues on Sunday - we now just have wait and see how it goes."
