The Cervélo Test Team has added another big sprinter to its armoury with the news that it has inked a two-year deal with the Dutchman Theo Van Bos.
The 26 year old will join Tour de France Green Jersey winner Thor Hushovd and sprinter/Classic rider Heinrich Haussler in the Swiss squad, helping them but also learning from the two experienced riders.
“Cervelo TestTeam has proven to be a successful team and with riders like Carlos Sastre, Thor Hushovd and Heinrich Haussler they have also developed a strong base,” said Bos today. “On this team I can use the best equipment and they have presented me with a plan where I can develop myself to the level I want to achieve.
“In the shadow of the big stars on this team they want to build a team around me for the sprints in the Grand Tours.”
Bos had a very successful early career as a track rider, winning five medals in the world track championships and Olympic silver in Athens 2004. He competed on the road with the Rabobank Continental team this year and took his first road wins in events such as the Ronde van Noord-Holland and the Omloop der Kempen.
However he earned bigger headlines when he brought down South African rider Daryl Impey (Barloworld) in the Presidential Tour of Turkey. The action put Impey into hospital with multiple injuries and earned Bos a one-month ban from the UCI. He said afterwards that the action was unintentional.
Bos hopes that his career will progress with the new team. “I am looking forward to learning something from Thor Hushovd and Sports Director Jean-Paul van Poppel,” he said. “I was really impressed with this team’s set-up when I visited their base in Switzerland, The times that I have spoken with Thomas Campana, Team Manager and Cervélo co-owner Gerard Vroomen I saw this really is a life project. It is great, for me, that a team like Cervélo has the faith in me and wants to invest in. And it is now up to me to make it happen and to improve myself, step by step.”
Campana has seen his riders achieve big success in the first year of the men’s team and hopes that he can help develop Bos’ talents. “Theo Bos is an interesting rider and an important person for our team,” he said. “We will help Theo take his award winning track process and hone those skills for the road. Our goal was to find another sprinter and in Theo we have found the right rider.
“We are looking forward to have one of the fastest riders in the world in our team next year and help him to show the same qualities on the road as he has on the track.”