Yes, at first, I also felt that the ASO may have pressured Rabo to get rid of Rasmussen. Prudhomme himself admitted that the public pressure to get rid of Rasmussen had become unbearable. Of course, he did not say it in those exact words. But he did say, "we cannot say that Rasmussen cheated, but his flippancy and his lies on his whereabouts had become unbearable."
The truth is, no one wants a repeat of last year's (Landis) mess but because the ASO had no actual proof that Rasmussen was cheating, they could not just kick him out of the Tour. They had to find another way to pull the Chicken out of the oven before it blew up in all their faces. The only thing they had on him was the fact that he lied about his whereabouts. Still, until that could be proven, only the team management itself had the power to remove him from the Tour. So in the end it turns out that Rasmussen did himself in. He really should stop crying now about being victimized. Instead, he should apologize to everyone, especially to his former teammates and to all his fans who supported him.