Niko Eeckhout

Niko Eeckhout

Personal information
Full name	Niko Eeckhout
Nickname	Rambo
Born	(1970-12-16) 16 December 1970 (age 53) Izegem, Belgium
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight	73 kg (161 lb)
Team information
Discipline	Road
Rider type	Classics specialist, sprinter
Professional teams
1992–1996	Collstrop–Garden Wood
1997–1998	Lotto–Mobistar–Isoglass
1999–2000	Palmans–Ideal
2001–2004	Lotto–Adecco
2005–2008	Chocolade Jacques–T Interim
2009–2013	An Post–M.Donnelly–Grant Thornton–Sean Kelly
Major wins
UCI Europe Tour (2005–2006) National Road Race Championships (2006) Dwars door Vlaanderen (2001, 2005) Championship of Flanders (1996, 1998, 2000, 2006) GP Isbergues

Niko Eeckhout (born 16 December 1970) is a Belgian former professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 1992 and 2013. He was the 2005–2006 UCI Europe Tour series and the 2006 Belgian National Cycling Championship Road Race champion, and currently works for the An Post–Chain Reaction Team as a coach.^[1]

Born in Izegem, Eeckhout started his career in 1993 riding for the small Collstrop-team. He immediately started winning minor Belgian races like the Championship of Flanders and the Omloop Mandel-Leie-Schelde. In 1997 and 1998 he rode for Lotto–Mobistar–Isoglass, and then rode two years for Palmans. Eeckhout had a breakthrough season when he transferred to Lotto-Adecco in 2001, winning 11 races, including Dwars door Vlaanderen and the GP van Steenbergen.

Eeckhout struggled through the next two seasons and at the end of 2004 his contract with Lotto-Adecco ended and he needed to find a new team. He signed with the Belgian squad Chocolade Jacques and found his second youth. He started the 2005 season by winning Dwars door Vlaanderen, and went on to win major races including the Grand Prix d'Isbergues and a stage of the Three Days of De Panne. In 2006 he continued his winning form, taking the Three Days of West-Flanders. In June 2006 he won the biggest race in his career, the Belgian National Road Championship in Antwerp by beating Tom Boonen and Philippe Gilbert. Eeckhout had another great season in 2006, winning 12 races, including the 2005-2006 UCI Europe Tour. In the peloton he earned the nickname "Rambo" for being particularly tough during hard races in severe conditions.

• Official website (in Dutch)