Dutch sprinter possibly headed home for 2011
Theo Bos admitted two days ago to surprise following the announcement of the closing up of the shop doors of the Cervelo Test Team following the 2010 season. The news comes late in the season and will certainly leave a lot of riders on the team reeling, but even in the midst of the chaos, the 25 year old super-sprinter was not too worried.
“For me personally, it’s not a problem; my future as a cyclist is not in danger.”
The five-time World Champion on the track is apparently deep in talks with his former Rabobank team according to Eurosport’s Danny Nelissen.
The commentator claimed a reliable source for the news, and the move back to the team that gave him his start would be an intriguing one. When Bos left Rabobank, he had barely scratched the surface of his possibilities on the road following a successful, but difficult first season with Rabobank’s development team. His first year on the road included five wins, but many days of suffering and also more than a little bit of controversy following his antics in the final stage of the Tour of Turkey, which resulted in serious injuries to Daryl Impey.
For the 2010 season, the 26 year old Bos surprised most everyone with a move to the Cervelo Test Team and prospered at the professional level, if perhaps, only in the first part of the season. The Boss notched victories at the Clasica de Almeria, a stage of the Vuelta Murcia, two stages of the Vuelta a Castilla y Leon, four other top five finishes, as well as finishing his first Paris-Roubaix. The Vuelta a Espana marks his first ever Grand Tour and will certainly be a trial by fire for the big Dutchman.
With Oscar Freire set to retire in the not so distant future and Graeme Brown only showing moderate promise as a sprinter who can beat the world’s best, Theo Bos could fill a huge void on the Rabobank team – not only as the team’s sprinter, but also as a Dutch talent a la Robert Gesink that the team could build itself around in the coming years. If Bos continues to progress as he has over the past two seasons, the speed that took him to five World Championships as a track sprinter should begin to show itself more and more in the final 200 meters on the road.