Theo Bos

Theo Bos (born 22 August 1983) is a Dutch former professional road and track cyclist. An Olympic silver medalist and five-time world champion, he is the brother of Olympic medalist in speed skating Jan Bos.

On 29 November 2021, he announced his retirement from professional cycling and took up the job of coach of the Chinese national track team.

Early life

Bos was born in Hierden, Netherlands. He has an older brother Jan Bos, who is a professional speed skater.

He went to high school in Harderwijk, where he got a havo diploma. Later he also got a vwo diploma.

In 2001, he was Junior World Champion track cycling at 1,000 m. The same year, at the age of 18, he started his professional cycling career as a senior.

Professional career

Track cycling

He won the silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in the sprint event.

He won an individual gold in the sprint at the 2004 UCI Track Cycling World Championships. The following year, he won the individual sprint and a silver medal in the team sprint at the 2005 UCI Track Cycling World Championships.

At the 2006 UCI Track Cycling World Championships, Bos won the keirin and completed a career triple, having been world champion in the sprint, kilo and keirin. He won the keirin after accelerating with two laps to go, winning by a wide margin and able to raise his hands and salute the crowd as he passed the finish line. His French rival, and bronze medal winner, Arnaud Tournant, said Bos' performance was "the best I've seen in a very long time."

On 16 December 2006, Bos broke the world 200m track record during qualification rounds for the sprint at a World Cup meeting in Moscow. Bos clocked 9.772 seconds (after a computer initially had given him an unlikely 9.086 seconds) and beat the 11-year record held by Canadian Curt Harnett. Bos declared the 200m the "ultimate record" for track cyclists. Five days later Bos was elected Dutch Sportsman of the year. Bos' record was beaten by Frenchman Kévin Sireau at the Moscow Grand Prix on 29 May 2009 with 9.65 seconds.

Starting August 2017, Bos started riding for . He is in a team with Matthijs Büchli and Roy van den Berg. In 2017 Bos won the Dutch Championships in the team sprint with Büchli and van den Berg. At the 2018 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Apeldoorn he won a bronze medal in the individual 1 km time trial.

Road cycling

On 19 April 2009, Bos was in a controversial crash in the final 800m of the final stage of the Tour of Turkey. Bos caused the crash of the eventual winner Daryl Impey by grabbing Impey's left shoulder with his right hand. Impey crashed to the left, into the barrier, next to Bos. Bos admitted pushing Impey. Bos claimed the reason for pushing Impey was because Impey was moving in on him while he was already close to the fence. Bos was disqualified and fined. On 1 May 2009 the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) said "Bos’s behavior undermined the image, reputation and interests of cycling". Bos was charged with an infringement and was brought before a UCI disciplinary hearing in which he was found guilty of violating UCI regulations. Bos was subsequently suspended from professional racing from 15 August through 14 September 2009.

In the off season before 2010 Bos signed with the , that included former Tour de France winner Carlos Sastre. He was touted as another addition to their sprint team. He raced in many smaller races, and some large ones including Paris–Roubaix and the Vuelta a España. When the Cervelo Test Team folded in late 2010, Bos returned to the team. His first triumph of 2011 came in the first stage of the Tour of Oman, beating Mark Cavendish in a sprint finish.

In 2012, he won the first and last stages of the Tour of Turkey. Both of these stages saw crashes in the finale, diminishing the number of sprinters Bos had to compete against. Bos took his first win at World Tour level at the Eneco Tour. On Stage 3 from Riemst to Genk, he edged John Degenkolb () on the finish line in a bunch sprint to take the victory.

Bos was originally selected as a member of the Belkin squad for the 2013 Vuelta a España, however he was withdrawn before the start of the race after tests revealed he had low cortisol levels. A team statement noted that this was "an indication of sub-optimal health conditions", and that whilst low cortisol levels were not a barrier to competing in UCI World Tour races the team's medical staff and Bos had agreed to send him home. Subsequently, Bos confirmed that his condition was due to an extreme reaction to asthma medication.

Bos rode for the Pro Continental team in 2015 and 2016. Bos said about Team MTN-Qhubeka "The team has a great culture, I want to win and we will work together to win, our success is the success of Africa."

Following the 2015 Abu Dhabi Tour, where he did not finish stage 2, he had no further results at any major road events.

Major results

Track

;2001
: 1st Kilo, UCI Juniors World Championships
;2002
: UEC European Under-23 Championships
::1st Keirin
::2nd Kilo
::2nd Sprint
: National Championships
::1st Keirin
::1st Sprint
;2003
: UEC European Under-23 Championships
::1st Kilo
::1st Sprint
::2nd Keirin
: National Championships
::1st Keirin
::1st Kilo
::1st Sprint
: 2nd Kilo, UCI World Cup Classics, Moscow
;2004
: UCI World Championships
::1st Sprint
::3rd Kilo
: National Championships
::1st Keirin
::1st Sprint
: 2004 UCI World Cup Classics
::1st Kilo, Moscow
::2nd Kilo, Manchester
::2nd Team sprint, Moscow
::3rd Sprint, Moscow
: 2004–05 UCI World Cup Classics, Los Angeles
::1st Kilo
::1st Team sprint
: 2nd Sprint, Olympic Games
;2005
: UCI World Championships
::1st Kilo
::2nd Team sprint
: 2004–05 UCI World Cup Classics, Sydney
::1st Keirin
::1st Sprint
: 2005–06 UCI World Cup Classics, Manchester
::1st Sprint
::2nd Team sprint
;2006
: UCI World Championships
::1st Keirin
::1st Sprint
: National Championships
::1st Keirin
::1st Sprint
: 2005–06 UCI World Cup Classics, Sydney
::1st Keirin
::1st Team sprint
: 2006–07 UCI World Cup Classics
::1st Keirin, Sydney
::1st Sprint, Moscow
::2nd Team sprint, Sydney
::2nd Team sprint, Moscow
;2007
: UCI World Championships
::1st Sprint
::2nd Keirin
: National Championships
::1st Keirin
::1st Sprint
: 1st Masters of Sprint
: 1st Rotterdam Sprint Cup
;2008
: 3rd Team sprint, UCI World Championships
;2010
: 1st Madison, National Championships (with Peter Schep)
;2011
: 3rd Madison, UCI World Championships (with Peter Schep)
;2012
: 2nd Kilo, National Championships
;2015
: National Championships
::1st Kilo
::1st Omnium
::1st Sprint
;2016
: 2nd Kilo, UCI World Championships
;2017
: 1st Team sprint, National Championships (with Matthijs Büchli and Roy van den Berg)
: 2nd Team sprint, UCI World Championships
: 2nd Team sprint, 2017–18 UCI World Cup, Manchester (with Matthijs Büchli and Roy van den Berg)
;2018
: 2017–18 UCI World Cup, Minsk
::1st Team sprint (with Matthijs Büchli and Roy van den Berg)
::3rd Sprint
: 2018–19 UCI World Cup
::2nd Team sprint, Milton
::3rd Keirin, London
::3rd Kilo, Berlin
: 1st Team sprint, National Championships (with Matthijs Büchli and Roy van den Berg)
: 3rd Kilo, UCI World Championships
;2019
: 1st Keirin, 2018–19 UCI World Cup, Hong Kong
: 2nd Kilo, UCI World Championships
: 2nd Kilo, UEC European Championships

Road

;2009
: 1st Ronde van Noord-Holland
: 1st Omloop der Kempen
: Olympia's Tour
::1st Prologue ( TTT), Stages 1, 2 & 4
: 3rd Ronde van Overijssel
: 4th Beverbeek Classic
;2010
: 1st Clásica de Almería
: Vuelta a Castilla y León
::1st Points classification
::1st Stages 1 & 2
: 1st Stage 5 Vuelta a Murcia
;2011
: 1st Tour de Rijke
: 1st Dutch Food Valley Classic
: Tour of Oman
::1st Stages 1 & 3
: 1st Stage 6 Danmark Rundt
: 2nd Overall Delta Tour Zeeland
: 6th Handzame Classic
: 8th Scheldeprijs
;2012
: 1st Dwars door Drenthe
: 1st Dutch Food Valley Classic
: 1st Memorial Rik Van Steenbergen
: Tour of Turkey
::1st Stages 1 & 8
: 1st Stage 3 Eneco Tour
: 1st Stage 2 World Ports Classic
: 3rd Scheldeprijs
;2013
: Tour of Hainan
::1st Stages 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 & 9
: Tour de Langkawi
::1st Stages 1 & 2
: 1st Stage 1 Critérium International
: 1st Stage 2 Volta ao Algarve
: 1st Stage 2 Ster ZLM Toer
: 1st Stage 3 Tour of Norway
: 8th Scheldeprijs
: 9th Ronde van Zeeland Seaports
;2014
: 1st Overall World Ports Classic
::1st Points classification
: 1st Ronde van Zeeland Seaports
: Tour de Langkawi
::1st Stages 2, 7, 8 & 9
: 1st Stage 3 Tour de Pologne
: 1st Stage 4 Tour of Alberta
: 2nd Handzame Classic
: 3rd Overall Tour de l'Eurométropole
::1st Stage 3

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

References

External links

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Pictures of the KimeraCycling News Coverage of '09 Tour of TurkeyCrash at '09 Tour of Turkey (in slow motion)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bos, Theo
1983 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Harderwijk
Dutch male cyclists
Cyclists at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Cyclists at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Cyclists at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Olympic cyclists for the Netherlands
Olympic silver medalists for the Netherlands
UCI Track Cycling World Champions (men)
Olympic silver medalists in cycling
Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey stage winners
Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Dutch cyclists at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships
Cyclists from Gelderland
21st-century Dutch sportsmen