The 30-year-old couldn't quite match the high-end speed of Cavendish and Elia Viviani (Cannondale) but explained that, nevertheless he was satisfied with the opening day of the eight-stage race.
"I can live with this third place," said Bos. "There's no disgrace in getting beaten by Cavendish. The boys did a perfect lead-out. I feel very strong, we probably have three sprint stages left, and I hope to win at least one."
For the Sports Director at the race, Michiel Elijzen, it was a good start to the race for the team who stated the goal in Turkey is to claim as many sprint wins as possible.
"I'm very satisfied," said Elijzen. "Of course we'd rather win, but Cavendish is one of the best sprinters in the world. I'm very proud of the way the team pulled the sprint for Theo. He was able to begin his sprint from the best possible position. Our train is one of the fastest of the bunch and proved it's very strong and well organised."
"We've worked on several areas of the sprint and today, we were spotless. We deliberately decided on one side of the road, the boys gave all the right commands and everybody did the precise amount of metres at the front. The men knew exactly what to do. Rick Flens did great by keeping the leaders within reach all day long."
Bos, who won five world championship medals on the track before turning his attention to the road, made his first appearance at the race back 2009 when he made headlines for all the wrong reasons. Bos and Daryl Impey, who went on to win the overall, tangled in the sprint with the Dutchman causing a controversial crash for which he was disqualified and fined.
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Stage two is another flat day in the saddle and is likely to end in a sprint after 175km of racing.
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