The revelations in Thomas Dekker’s revealing autobiography has prompted some strong reactions from his former teammates and those mentioned in the book. Michael Boogerd has denied Dekker’s account of the 2007 Tour de France, where the pair shared a room, saying that the book as comes as an ‘unpleasant surprise’.
In one section of his book, Dekker details some of the doping practices and antics that he and his teammates got up to during the 2007 Tour. At the time, Dekker was racing his first Tour at the age of 22 while Boogerd was doing his last. In the book, which was written with journalist Thijs Zonneveld, Dekker explains that Boogerd discussed his use of the Human Plasma blood bank in order to blood dope. As well as their efforts to dope, Dekker says that in the run-up to the race he and Boogerd, bored of sitting in their room, decided to order prostitutes over the internet.
"I totally cannot agree with what I've read so far," Boogerd told RTL Boulevard, adding that he had been trying to get in contact with Dekker for over a year. "I've been trying in vain to get in contact with Thomas for a year and a half. The book also comes as an unpleasant surprise.”
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Dekker told the Dutch website Wielerflits that he has sent Boogerd some passages of his book, but he has not had any response from his former teammate. Boogerd’s ex-wife has also waded in on the issue and accused Dekker of deliberately trying to hurt their family.
“Some situations are seriously exaggerated, and characters are changed or are not named consciously and unconsciously,” she wrote over several posts on Twitter. “Michael is a fantastic father of my son, and I consider myself fortunate, therefore, that we can go on such friendly terms with each other. No sensational book will change all that.”
Another section of the book describes a time early in his Rabobank career where he and Steven de Jongh, who was at Rabobank between 2000 and 2005, watched porn in together in their room. De Jongh reacted angrily on Twitter, accusing Zonneveld of trying to sensationalise things. “I understand that Thomas Dekker did not want it in the book," De Jongh wrote. "Thanks Thijs Zonneveld for the adversarial process. Didn’t happen. Class."
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