De Rooij "should have" handled Rasmussen differently

By Susan Westemeyer

Theo de Rooij, former Team Rabobank team manager, has said that he should have acted differently in the Michael Rasmussen affair during the Tour de France. However, in an interview on the Dutch TV program Spraakmakende Zaken, he refused to take all the blame upon himself. "Knowing what I know now, I can say: I should have handled it differently."

Describing the night he withdrew the Danish rider from the Tour de France, De Rooij said, "When I confronted him with what I knew, he first admitted it, but then withdrew that immediately. It was his word against mine. It was clear to me." Rasmussen has said that he considered committing suicide that evening.

De Rooij also said that he would have preferred not to let Rasmussen start the Tour, but that the UCI indicated that he legally could start.