After several disappointing years at Garmin-Sharp, Thomas Dekker finds himself without a contract for next season. Having been unable to reach his former level after his suspension, the Dutchman regrets having wasted his talent.

For many years, Thomas Dekker was regarded as one of the biggest cycling talents in the world. Having dominated the U23 scene, he made a smooth transition to the pro ranks, winning Tirreno-Adriatico and the Tour de Romandie in his first professional years.

However, things started to unravel when he tested positive for EPO in old samples that were retested. After his suspension, he returned to the elite level with Garmin-Sharp but he has not been even close to performing at his old level.

Now Dekker finds himself without a contract for the coming season and he has decided to focus everything on an Hour Record attempt that could be his final outing as a bike rider.

"There is not one specific reason," he told Hei Nieuwsblad when asked about the fact that he has been far below his past level. "It has to do with self-confidence and over time also with your position in the team. With Ryder Hesjedal and Daniel Martin, we had riders who did well, so I had to ride for them. For some time, it hurt, but the last few months I was just a good team rider."

Dekker refuses that it has anything to do with his past doping abuse.

"When I was 17 or 18, I was the best rider in the world. Without doping," he said. "And when I turned professional, I won race immediately. Without doping. In my first year as a rider, I never touched drugs. Then I became part of it because everyone around me were. You want the best and no one says 'Thomas, you shouldn't do that'. Do I regret it? It is too easy just to regret. But it's still a shame that I have wasted my talent.

"Now the general public know what the riders have known for a long time, due to the Amstrong and the small Armstrong (the Michael Boogerd, ed.) cases we had in the Netherlands. It has made it all easier for me. Before I was the only big rider to have tested positive for EPO. I was the Ducth rider on the Dutch team

"Now you hear often: Everyone was doing it. Even though you don't like it in Belgium. But I can tell you that many of the Belgian riders rode even faster than we did. And in Italy and Spain, there is a very different culture."