Team Garmin rider Thomas Dekker(Image credit: Sonja Csury)
Snack time for Garmin-Sharp's Thomas Dekker and Johan van Summeren(Image credit: MBIKE Magazine)
Thomas Dekker broke his leg at the Tour of Alberta prologue on September 3, an MRI scan revealed on Tuesday. “I crashed in the recon of the prologue which was two weeks ago but the pain just kept on bothering me,” Dekker told Cyclingnews. “Today we found the reason for that. I have a fracture just below my right knee.”
The injury means that Dekker’s season is over. “I have to take six weeks of rest. Of course I am very disappointed at this news.’
Dekker finished the Tour of Alberta in 106th place with a spot on the Garmin-Sharp team for the world championships team time trial on his mind. In 2012 he finished 10th in the race with Johan Vansummeren, Ramunas Navardauskas, Jack Bauer, Andrew Talansky and Martijn Maaskant.
“I just kept on trying in Canada because I finally felt better in Colorado the week before that. And because I really wanted to ride with the team in Firenze. We have a strong team and the team time trial is an important goal for Garmin-Sharp.
Dekker rode a solid USA Pro Cycling Challenge. He found himself in the breakaway on the penultimate stage and did a lot of work for teammates Lachlon Morton and Thomas Danielson who finished 5th and 3rd in the overall respectively.
After the Tour of Alberta, Dekker travelled to Canada for the WorldTour races in Québec and Montréal. The race on Friday in Québec ended after 30 kilometres for him.
“Two cars in the caravan hit me during the race. I had no chance and crashed on my knee. This time it was my left knee, so the other knee to the one I hurt in Alberta. It really was Friday the 13th for me. The pain was horrible and I just couldn’t go on.”
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Dekker abandoned the race and cancelled his participation in Montréal.
“Riding in Montréal really wasn’t an option so I flew back home to have a closer examination of my right knee,” Dekker told Cyclingnews today. “The MRI revealed that the bone is broken just below my knee. No wonder I had so much pain.”
After six weeks of rest, the 29-year old Dutchman will start training again. Dekker has another year to run with on his contract with Garmin-Sharp.
