Given the events which occurred in Alanya three years ago and their after-effects, it’s perhaps surprising that Theo Bos didn’t remember the name of the seaside town where yesterday’s opening stage of the Presidential Tour of Turkey finished.
In the 2009 edition of the race Bos was involved in a crash with race leader Daryl Impey. The UCI later ruled that he was at fault, having pulled Impey’s jersey and caused the incident, and handed him a one month ban from racing.
Three years on, Bos was first to the line in the same place. However he didn’t make the connection until after he beat Matt Goss (GreenEdge), Daniele Colli (Team Type 1 – Sanofi) and the rest of a crash-fragmented peloton in the sprint.
“I didn’t know [it was the same place], I just found out,” he said, in response to a question about it. “For me, it’s just another bike race. That book was closed a long time ago. It feels like another bike race to me and I have no extra feelings.”
Bos had a history on the track, winning several world championship medals as one of the best sprinters, but then turned to the road after the Beijing Olympics. He’s been working at changing his track bulk to a road physique and yesterday showed the signs of that, both in taking the victory and also in his pared-down appearance.
He’ll start the Giro next month and this Turkish race is both a goal in itself and also part of his buildup for the Italian tour. The team got a late invite to the race, and Bos believes it’s a perfect opportunity.
“This is an important race to work on our sprint. At Rabobank there is not a big culture of sprinting, but in the last years we have decided to work on this aspect,” he said. “I think a race like this is a very good opportunity to make a step up again.”
In the video interview below, Bos speaks about the dynamic with the team’s other sprinter, Mark Renshaw, talking about how the two will co-exist and cooperate at this race.
He also talks about his development as a rider, saying that he is still not satisfied with his transition from track and that he believes there’s scope for more improvement yet.