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 . 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.

Tijl De Decker

In July 2023, it was announced that De Decker would move from the development team to 's UCI ProTeam for the 2024 season.

Tijl De Decker

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.

Tijl De Decker

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

4th Road race, National Under-23 Road Championships

4th Omloop Het Nieuwsblad U23

4th Eschborn–Frankfurt Under-23

References

External links

2001 births

2023 deaths

Belgian male cyclists

Sportspeople from Antwerp

Road incident deaths in Belgium

21st-century Belgian people

Cycling road incident deaths