Rabobank's van der Aat expects no suspensions

By Susan Westemeyer

Henri van der Aat, former interim manager at Team Rabobank and now Manager International Affairs, does not believe that the International Cycling Union (UCI) will actually suspend the riders participating Paris-Nice. "They have said that they could suspend them. I think they will issue fines. We as a team will take care of those," he told the Dutch website telesport.nl.

Rabobank sent top riders such as Robert Gesink and Juan Antonio Flecha to the 'Race to the Sun.' "If you start, then you must also do well. I found it dishonest to withdraw certain riders to try and protect them, but be willing to sacrifice others."

Van der Aat hoped for an agreement between the UCI and Paris-Nice organiser, Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), concerning a new structure for cycling. "We want a qualification system with objective criteria," he said. "Then we will know exactly where and when we can ride."

Van der Aat served as interim team manager following the resignation of Theo de Rooij. On March 1, Harold Knebel, formerly director of private banking for Rabobank Nederland, took over as team manager.