Tijl De Decker
Quick Facts
Biography
Tijl De Decker (29 July 2001 – 25 August 2023) was a Belgian racing cyclist. He was the younger brother of cyclist Alfdan De Decker.
Sporting career
After switching to the U23s, De Decker first rode for three years for Belgian clubs. For the 2023 season he became a member of the Lotto–Dstny Development Team. Already in the first race for his new team he achieved his first victory in a UCI race by winning the third stage of the Tour de Taiwan. This was followed in April by the prestigious victory in the Paris–Roubaix Espoirs. At the Giro Next Gen, he was one of 24 riders disqualified by the jury who determined that the riders had been pulled by escort motorcycles or cars on the final climb up to the Stelvio Pass.
In July 2023, it was announced that De Decker would move from the development team to Lotto–Dstny's UCI ProTeam for the 2024 season.
On 25 August 2023, he died at Antwerp University Hospital from injuries as a result of a training accident in which he collided with the rear of a car in Lier near Antwerp two days earlier. He was 22.
Major results
- 2018
- 2nd Omloop der Vlaamse Gewesten
- 8th Johan Museeuw Classic
- 2023
- 1st Paris–Roubaix Espoirs
- 1st Stage 3 Tour de Taiwan
- 1st Stage 1 (TTT) Tour Alsace
- 2nd Rutland–Melton CiCLE Classic
- 3rd Brussel-Opwijk
- 4th Road race, National Under-23 Road Championships
- 4th Omloop Het Nieuwsblad U23
- 4th Eschborn–Frankfurt Under-23