Bos turns back the clock at Hong Kong Track World Cup

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Theo Bos (Beat Cycling Club) turned back the clock this weekend winning his first Keirin World Cup gold in 13 years at the final round of the Track World Cup in Hong Kong.

The Dutchman, a five-time world champion on the track, won his heats in the first and second rounds of the competition en-route to the final. Bos took command by moving to the front with two laps remaining, a tactic he’d planned out ahead of the event, leaving him the freedom to ride his own race.

"I was already planning to take to the front early throughout the whole tournament,” explained Bos. “It puts you in a great position where you're safe from any direct confrontations and you can set the pace yourself, making it hard for the others to follow.

"In the final, I had to put in an extra effort to get around the Canadian [Hugo] Barrette, but once I got in front I could put my power down freely, whereas the rest of the riders were busy racing each other. I'm very happy to be taking home gold.”

Bos’ last individual World Cup win came in Beijing in 2007 when he beat France’s Mikael Bourgain and Germany’s Stefan Nimke in the sprint competition. His last victory in the Keirin event came the year before in Sydney and he would go onto take the title at the World Championships in Bordeaux a few months later.

After spending seven years racing full-time on the road with mixed success, Bos returned to the track for the 2016 season. Last year, he won the team sprint competition at the Minsk round of the World Cup with Matthijs Buchli and Roy van den Berg and took bronze in the kilometre time trial at the World Championships in Apeldoorn.

Bos’ win in the Keirin moved him up to third in the overall standings with teammate Buchli taking out the competition ahead of Barrette, despite not racing the last two rounds of the World Cup.

The World Championships will take place on February 27 in Pruszkow, Poland.