On 14 August 2008 Dekker officially announced on his web page that he had split from Rabobank. Although an early report in SportWereld said Dekker was on the verge of signing with Garmin-Chipotle, team manager Jonathan Vaughters later denied this rumor. Dekker later revealed in an interview and in his book "Schoon Genoeg" that Vaughters had been on the verge of signing him, but the deal fell through when Dekker's blood values indicated he'd been doping. According to Dekker, this was the wake-up call he needed to quit using performance-enhancing drugs. On 27 September 2008 it was announced that Dekker had signed a contract with for two years.