Theo Bos (born 22 August 1983) is a Dutch former professional

road A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types o ...

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 of the professional cycling sport and took up the job of national track coach of the Chinese national track team.

Early life

Bos was born in

Hierden Hierden is a farming village in the centre-east of Netherlands. It is located in the municipality of Harderwijk, Gelderland Gelderland (), also known as Guelders () in English, is a province of the Netherlands, occupying the centre-east of the ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. He has an older brother Jan Bos, who is a professional

speed skater Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating. ...

. He went to high school in

Harderwijk Harderwijk (; Dutch Low Saxon: ) is a municipality and city of the Netherlands. It is served by the Harderwijk railway station. Its population centres are Harderwijk and Hierden. Harderwijk is on the western boundary of the Veluwe. The so ...

, 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 A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, et ...

at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

in the sprint event. He won an individual gold in the sprint at the

2004 UCI Track Cycling World Championships The 2004 UCI Track Cycling World Championships were the World Championship set of events for track cycling. Both men's and women's events took place, with nine men's events and six women's events. They took place in Melbourne, Australia from 2 ...

. 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 Arnaud Tournant (born 5 April 1978) is a French track cyclist. He has won 14 World Championships (record of men) and won a gold, silver and a bronze at the Summer Olympics. Biography Tournant was born in Roubaix, near the border with Belgium, a ...

, 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 Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. 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 Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

Curt Harnett Curtis "Curt" Melvin Harnett, (born 14 May 1965) is a Canadian racing cyclist. He began cycling as a way to stay in shape for hockey. He competed in four Olympic Games, winning three medals, one silver and two bronze. Harnett also has three me ...

. 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 Kévin Sireau (born 18 April 1987) is a French professional racing cyclist. He rides for the Armée de Terre cycling team. Major results ;2003 :3rd Sprint, French National Track Championships, Novice ;2004 :2nd Sprint, French National Track C ...

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 The 2018 UCI Track Cycling World Championships were the World Championships for track cycling in 2018. They took place in the Netherlands at the Omnisport Apeldoorn from 28 February to 4 March 2018. Schedule The schedule of events was as fol ...

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 Daryl Impey (born 6 December 1984) is a South African professional road cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . Impey is an all-rounder; he generally comes to the fore on tough uphill sprints. Impey is a two-time winner of the Tour D ...

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 The ''Union Cycliste Internationale'' (UCI; ; en, International Cycling Union) is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland. The UCI issues raci ...

(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 The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

winner

Carlos Sastre Carlos Sastre Candil (; born 22 April 1975) is a former Spanish professional road bicycle racer and winner of the 2008 Tour de France. He consistently achieved outstanding results in the Vuelta a España and in the Tour de France. Sastre establ ...

. He was touted as another addition to their sprint team. He raced in many smaller races, and some large ones including

Paris–Roubaix Paris–Roubaix is a one-day professional bicycle road race in northern France, starting north of Paris and finishing in Roubaix, at the border with Belgium. It is one of cycling's oldest races, and is one of the ' Monuments' or classics of th ...

and the

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; en, Tour of Spain) is an annual multi-stage bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, the ...

. 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 Mark Simon Cavendish (born 21 May 1985) is a Manx professional road racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . As a track cyclist he specialises in the madison, points race, and scratch race disciplines; as a road racer he is a ...

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 Riemst (; li, Riems) is a small town and a municipality in the Belgian province of Limburg. Riemst is in the Flemish speaking area of Belgium. On January 1, 2018 Riemst had a total population of 16,665. The total area is 57.88 km² which ...

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 The 2013 Vuelta a España was the 68th edition of the race. Chris Horner won the 2013 Vuelta at the age of 41 on 15 September 2013, becoming the oldest ever Grand Tour winner. Horner beat his nearest challenger, Italian Vincenzo Nibali, by finis ...

, however he was withdrawn before the start of the race after tests revealed he had low

cortisol Cortisol is a steroid hormone, in the glucocorticoid class of hormones. When used as a medication, it is known as hydrocortisone. It is produced in many animals, mainly by the '' zona fasciculata'' of the adrenal cortex in the adrenal g ...

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 The UCI WorldTour (2009–2010: ''UCI World Ranking'') is the premier men's elite road cycling tour, sitting above the UCI ProSeries and various regional UCI Continental Circuits. It refers to both the tour of 38 events and, until 2019, an ann ...

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 Jersey rainbow

Kilo,

UCI Juniors World Championships The UCI Juniors World Championships were a set of UCI World Championships events for junior bicycle cyclists in 2005 to 2009. In 2010 it was divided into: *The Junior men's road race at the UCI Road World Championships The UCI Road World Champi ...

;2002 : UEC European Under-23 Championships ::1st UEC Champion Jersey

Keirin ::2nd Kilo ::2nd Sprint : National Championships ::1st MaillotHolanda

Keirin ::1st MaillotHolanda

Sprint ;2003 : UEC European Under-23 Championships ::1st UEC Champion Jersey

Kilo ::1st UEC Champion Jersey

Sprint ::2nd Keirin : National Championships ::1st MaillotHolanda

Keirin ::1st MaillotHolanda

Kilo ::1st MaillotHolanda

Sprint : 2nd Kilo, UCI World Cup Classics, Moscow ;2004 : UCI World Championships ::1st Jersey rainbow

Sprint ::3rd Kilo : National Championships ::1st MaillotHolanda

Keirin ::1st MaillotHolanda

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 The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a multi ...

;2005 : UCI World Championships ::1st Jersey rainbow

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 Jersey rainbow

Keirin ::1st Jersey rainbow

Sprint : National Championships ::1st MaillotHolanda

Keirin ::1st MaillotHolanda

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 Jersey rainbow

Sprint ::2nd Keirin : National Championships ::1st MaillotHolanda

Keirin ::1st MaillotHolanda

Sprint : 1st Masters of Sprint : 1st Rotterdam Sprint Cup ;2008 : 3rd Team sprint, UCI World Championships ;2010 : 1st MaillotHolanda

Madison, National Championships (with

Peter Schep Pieter Otto ("Peter") Schep (born 8 March 1977 in Lopik, Utrecht) is a Dutch former racing cyclist, who specialized in track cycling endurance events. Biography Born in Lopik, Schep represented the Netherlands at the 1996, 2000 and 2004 Summer O ...

) ;2011 : 3rd

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

, UCI World Championships (with

) ;2012 : 2nd Kilo, National Championships ;2015 : National Championships ::1st MaillotHolanda

Kilo ::1st MaillotHolanda

Omnium ::1st MaillotHolanda

Sprint ;2016 : 2nd Kilo, UCI World Championships ;2017 : 1st MaillotHolanda

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 MaillotHolanda

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 Ronde van Noord-Holland is a road bicycle race held annually in the province of North Holland (Noord-Holland) in the Netherlands. In 2005 the race was organized as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of r ...

: 1st

Omloop der Kempen Omloop der Kempen is an elite men's and women's professional road bicycle racing event held annually in Veldhoven, Netherlands. Since 1995, the men's event is UCI 1.2 rated and is part of the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a s ...

Olympia's Tour The Olympia's Tour is a cycling stage race held in the Netherlands. History A.S.C. Olympia was founded in Amsterdam on 27 November 1898. It ran one-day races but wanted a race through all the Netherlands. The first Olympia's Tour was in 1909, ...

::1st Prologue ( TTT), Stages 1, 2 & 4 : 3rd

Ronde van Overijssel Ronde van Overijssel ( en, Tour of Overijssel) is an elite men's road bicycle racing event held annually in Overijssel, Netherlands and sanctioned by the Royal Dutch Cycling Union. The event is UCI 1.2 rated, and is part of the UCI Europe Tou ...

: 4th

Beverbeek Classic Beverbeek Classic is a single-day bicycle road race held annually in Hamont-Achel, in the Belgian region of Limburg. From 1998 to 2003, it was reserved to amateurs. Since 2005, it is organized as a 1.2 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Cont ...

;2010 : 1st

Clásica de Almería The Clásica de Almería ( en, Classic of Almería) is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in February or March in Almería, Spain, starting and finishing in Almería itself. Established in 1986, the race was run as an amateur event in i ...

Vuelta a Castilla y León The Vuelta Ciclista a Castilla y León is a professional road bicycle stage race held in Castile and León, Spain. Since 2005, Vuelta a Castilla y León has been a part of the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicyc ...

::1st

Points classification ::1st Stages 1 & 2 : 1st Stage 5

Vuelta a Murcia The Vuelta Ciclista a Murcia ( en, Tour of Murcia) is a road bicycle race held in and around Murcia, Spain. The first four editions were reserved to amateurs. Originally the race was held in early March and consisted of five stages. However, d ...

;2011 : 1st

Tour de Rijke Tour de Rijke is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in June in Spijkenisse, Netherlands. Since 2005, the race is organized as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitio ...

: 1st

Dutch Food Valley Classic Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People ...

: Tour of Oman ::1st Stages 1 & 3 : 1st Stage 6 Danmark Rundt : 2nd Overall

Delta Tour Zeeland Delta Tour Zeeland was a road bicycle stage race held annually in June in Zeeland, Netherlands. In 2008, the race was organized as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour as the organizers of the one-day race Delta Profronde and of the OZ Wielerweeken ...

: 6th

Handzame Classic The Bredene Koksijde Classic, previously Handzame Classic, is a European single day cycle race held in the Belgian region of Flanders, starting in Bredene and finishing in Koksijde. Having been a part of the Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen fro ...

: 8th Scheldeprijs ;2012 : 1st

Dwars door Drenthe Dwars door Drenthe ( en, Across Drenthe) was an elite men's road bicycle racing event held annually in the Drenthe, Netherlands, and sanctioned by the Royal Dutch Cycling Union. It took place between 2010 and 2015. From 2010, the men's event was ...

: 1st

Memorial Rik Van Steenbergen Memorial Rik Van Steenbergen (previously GP Rik Van Steenbergen) is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in September in Arendonk, Belgium. The race, paying respect to the famous Belgian rider of the 1940s and 1950s, quickly gained importa ...

: Tour of Turkey ::1st Stages 1 & 8 : 1st Stage 3 Eneco Tour : 1st Stage 2 World Ports Classic : 3rd Scheldeprijs ;2013 :

Tour of Hainan The Tour of Hainan is an annual professional road bicycle racing stage race held in Hainan Province, China. The race consists of nine stages and is part of the UCI Asia Tour. The event was first held in 2006. It was made a UCI 2.1 race from 2007 ...

::1st Stages 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 & 9 :

Tour de Langkawi The Tour de Langkawi is a multiple stage bicycle race held in Malaysia. It is named after the archipelago Langkawi, where the first edition started and finished. The race has been held annually since 1996, primarily in February. It usually con ...

::1st Stages 1 & 2 : 1st Stage 1

Critérium International The Critérium International was a two-day bicycle stage race held in France every spring from 1932 until 2016, typically the last weekend of March. It was formerly known as the Critérium National de la Route, first run in 1932. For many years ...

: 1st Stage 2

Volta ao Algarve The Volta ao Algarve (Portuguese; en, Tour of the Algarve) is a road bicycle racing stage race held annually in the Algarve, Portugal. Since 2017, it has been organised as a 2.HC event on the UCI Europe Tour. The race became part of the new UCI P ...

: 1st Stage 2 Ster ZLM Toer : 1st Stage 3

Tour of Norway The Tour of Norway is a road bicycle race held annually in Norway. It is considered as a successor to the stage race Ringerike GP, which is now a one-day race. It was started in 2011 as a result of the heightened interest in cycling in Norway, m ...

: 8th Scheldeprijs : 9th

Ronde van Zeeland Seaports Ronde van Zeeland Seaports is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in Zeeland, Netherlands. The race was created in 2012, as a 1.1 race on the UCI Europe Tour, after financial issues curtailed the Delta Tour Zeeland Delta Tour Zeeland was ...

;2014 : 1st MaillotCyan

Overall World Ports Classic ::1st Jersey green

Points classification : 1st

::1st Stages 2, 7, 8 & 9 : 1st Stage 3

Tour de Pologne The Tour de Pologne (Polish language, Polish: ''Wyścig Dookoła Polski'', English language, English: ''Tour of Poland'', official abbreviation TdP,) is an annual, professional men's Race stage, multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race prim ...

: 1st Stage 4 Tour of Alberta : 2nd

: 3rd Overall

Tour de l'Eurométropole Tour or Tours may refer to: Travel * Tourism, travel for pleasure * Tour of duty, a period of time spent in military service * Campus tour, a journey through a college or university's campus * Guided tour, a journey through a location, directed ...

::1st Stage 3

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

References

External links

* *
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 People 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 of the Netherlands Olympic silver medalists for the Netherlands UCI Track Cycling World Champions (men) Olympic 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 people