fly:yes/land:no

well, not really, as he is riding for the rabobank continental team, but theo bos is moving over to road racing!

from cyclingnews:

The road will be 'home' for Theo Bos next season, as the track star focuses his energies on another cycling discipline. The 25-year-old multiple world champion will continue to ride for his current team, Rabobank, and will be a part of the continental team, headed by Nico Verhoeven.

Accoridng to news agency ANP, the Cervelo team, already boasting sprinter Thor Hushovd, was apparently also interested in signing Bos, although the 'fit' of Dutch sprint star and a team from his homeland was too good.

Bos, who took third in the Amstel Curaçao Race earlier this month, officially begins life as a road rider on January 1 to his new adventure. "I've started in a new direction in my life, especially cycling," said Bos. "The good guidance from, among others, team leaders and trainers, made me decide that this opportunity was the one to take," the Dutchman added.

Bos' days on the track are not completely over, however. The 2012 Olympic Games in London are still a realistic ambition. "I don't think I should have to choose just one or the other; this opportunity has come at the right time for me."

i have no doubt that bos is faster heads up from a standstill. the question is wether or not he will be able to sprint after 100+ miles of hard riding.

flyguy676

thatd be cool though. i think cavendish is a ******!

Racer Ex 

Hoy>Bos?Cavendish

waterrockets 

Hoy=WR's hero

total manlove

MONGO!

What about after 100 miles?

CrimsonKarter21

I've been stoked for this announcement since I heard about it last year. Hopefully Bos will do really well as a Continental and be a wildcard for a big classic race.

And the thought of a Cav-Bos sprintout just sends chills down my spine. As if you couldn't tell, I'm a HUGE Bos fan and I'm jittery just thinking about it.

I'd also LOVE to see him sprint against Rashaan Bahanti since they'll probably line up together sometime.

fly:yes/land:no

i am not so sure about the hoy>bos. they are pretty closely matched and make for some awesome youtube videos. in the match sprints i have seen, bos seems to have to go early to beat hoy (longer sprint favors hoy). hoy has the massive explosion that is unmatched in the world. it seems to me that road sprints are much more to bos's style.

but, have you guys seen hoy's quads? i stole this pic from the track forum. a mere mortal and chris hoy:

JPradun

Cavendish, Bos, McEwen, Hoy, Boonen, Hushovd, etc are all on a whole different level than Bahati. No doubt he is a talent in the US. But, he isn't quite Tour or even road race quality.

Racer Ex 

Abdoujaparov.

deadly downtube

theo bos, the boss man, that guy is a killer!! check out some of this vids on youtube, sprints like a greased chipmunk on a louge!

classic1

Hoy is the dominant sprinter ATM. He is so much better than any of the other track sprinters it's not funny. Having said that I reckon Bos will make the transition to the road but I doubt Hoy could, even if he wanted too. Besides the age thing, Hoy has too much muscle mass IMO. Bos is much more finely built.

CrimsonKarter21

He is supposed to be wicked fast, and him and Bos should be racing together more than once next year. I'd like to see it.

Dubbayoo

2008 Tour of Britain - Stage 1

1 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) LPR Brakes - Ballan 1.51.54 (46.112 km/h)
2 Rob Hayles (GBr) Great Britain
3 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Team Garmin-Chipotle-presnted by H30
4 Dean Downing (GBr) Rapha-Condor-Recycling.co.uk
5 Rahsaan Bahati (USA) Rock Racing
6 Roger Hammond (GBr) Team Columbia
7 Kristof Goddaert (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen
8 Robbie Hunter (RSA) Barloworld
9 Zakkari Dempster (Aus) South Australia.com-AIS
10 Jonathan Bellis (GBr) Team CSC - Saxo Bank

merckx89

yea, and he got dropped on the next stage and dropped out of the race.

Grumpy McTrumpy

road racing requires going uphill too.

lotek 

Hoy reminds me of Eric Heiden, fantastic sprinter, killer on the track in his day but it didn't
translate too well to Road racing. If one looks at the majority of sprinters (road) they aren't these
massively muscled track guys, look at Petacchi, Cipo, McEwan all smaller than Hoy or even Cavendish (who may be the exception to my post).

Marty

Dubbayoo

I believe the comment was

Being there once qualifies as road race quality. Nobody cares how you ride the day after Roubaix, Flanders, Worlds or any other single day race.

wfrogge

He cant go the distance (yet).. not with the top pros.

Dubbayoo

Wha? Eric Heiden not only won Corestates (156 miles) he came within five days of finishing his first Tour de France but crashed. He never raced on the track at all.

Bos will do fine. He's only got to lose about 15 lbs whereas Marty Nothstein started transitioning at 205-210 lbs.

wfrogge

Eric was an ice speedskater not a track cyclist... And he transitioned over to cycling just fine

Grumpy McTrumpy

Cavendish is 5'9 150lbs... He could have easily finished the tour and can hang with the autobus in the big mountains.

BikeIndustryGuy

We need more downhill racing. This is where MTBers got smart -ski lifts.

BikeIndustryGuy

He really only quit the tour because of the Olympics. However, I can't diss any sprinter for not doing the whole tour, they are the only guys making the sport interesting.
Sad thing is, once you go off as a sprinter, you go way off fast, i.e. Robbie M, Zabel, etc.

Grumpy McTrumpy

well I wouldn't call Robbie slow!

But Cav was faster. He will lose his top end as he gets more grand tours in him. It happens to all of them.

lotek 

ok, I rescind everything I've said. (why did I think Heiden raced track?).