Theo de Rooij

Already at the launch, the TdR Bikes concept was a worldwide hit. For the technological innovations, TdR Bikes was both in 2011 and 2012 decorated at major international cycling trade shows. During Eurobike 2011 in Germany, TdR Bikes received a prestigious Gold Award for innovation, while at Taipei Cycle, there was the honour of a D&I Award for both development and innovation.

On 30 March 2009 De Rooij presented his biography 'beZield'. He handed over the first copy to Peter Post. Since 2010, an amateur classic has been named after him: Theo de Rooij Classic. The classic goes right through the heart of Overijssel. The Theo de Rooij Classic is also a fund raiser for a hospice in his hometown Rijssen-Holten.

In 2008 he joined the board of the Tour of Overijssel. Since 2009, he also acted as race director. In addition, De Rooij formed along with Erben Wennemars and Jos de Koning the 'Langebaan' team (long track speed skating), in preparation for the 2014 Winter Olympics.

In the 2007 Tour de France De Rooij had to make the decision to withdraw Michael Rasmussen from the Tour, while he was leading the general classifications. Rasmussen had won two stages and was only a few flat stages away from Paris, but had been chased by the press and anti doping agencies since his first win on stage 8. The reason for the withdrawal of Rasmussen by De Rooij was because Rasmussen lied about his location during training prior to the Tour de France. Former rider and journalist Davide Cassani recognized him in Italy, while Rasmussen told the UCI and Rabobank he was in Mexico. When confronted with this accusation, according to initial press reports, Rasmussen admitted the facts to his team leader, which resulted in Rasmussen's removal from the team and the Tour. Rasmussen himself denied that he had admitted any such thing, at the same time stating that Rabobank manager Theo de Rooij was a desperate man on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Only one day later, on 27 July, de Rooij informed Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant, that he would resign from his job when the 2007 Tour de France ended.

After his professional career he became a team manager, joining Peter Post's Panasonic team. Later he would become manager of Jan Raas at Rabobank. In those days this was a remarkable switch due to the rivalry between Post and Raas. In 2003 he became the team director of the Rabobank team and Erik Breukink took over his position as a manager of the team. De Rooij partially switched his focus to recruiting.

Theo de Rooij (born 25 April 1957 in Harmelen) is a retired Dutch former bicycle racer and former manager of the Rabobank cycling team - a position from which he resigned after the 2007 Tour de France. De Rooij was a professional rider from 1980 to 1990. He started his career in Belgian teams and the last eight years of his careers he served teams managed by Peter Post. He currently lives in Holten.

Theo de Rooij's farewell to the Rabobank Cycling teams came with a remarkable roll of honor. It took De Rooij only twelve years to 'produce': 6 World Championships, 81 national championships, 10 victories World Cup Classics and 27 stage victories in the three Grand Tours - Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana. In total, Theo de Rooij was involved in no less than 1738 victories of the Rabobank Cycling teams.