Theo Bos already has five full road seasons under his belt which followed a highly successful career on the track, but so far didn’t manage to complete a grand tour, being forced to abandon three-week races on three occasions. The 30-year old Dutchman hopes to make up for this deficiency in July, as he hopes to gain a spot in the Team Belkin roster for the Tour de France.

Even though Bos pulled out of the competition at the 2010 Vuelta a Espana and 2012 Giro d’Italia, while the Dutch team was forced to withdraw him before just the Spanish grand tour kicked off due to alarming cortisol levels last season, the 30-year old sprinter claims he’s ready to handle this kind of effort physically and thus aims to make his Tour de France debut in July.

“I would find it really beautiful. This race is above everything,” he told Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf.

“Whether it is realistic? I think so. I do not know. Whether or not it's about to happen this year, I think now I can handle it physically. I have done more mileage than ever this winter, while I have lost no explosiveness.”

Belkin sprinter had his 2014 season to a highly promising start after he won four stages at the Tour de Langkawi, but has struggled with delivering respectable results since then, including his last very disappointing appearance at the Tour of Turkey.

Bos managed to make the top three only on one occasion in the recently concluded Turkish event, but insisted that a performance of the whole Dutch team in the race was better than pure results would suggest.

"I have been a bit better. In the last two stages, there have been opportunities to beat him,” he explained.

"It gives us a huge kick when you drive a train alongside that of Omega Pharma-Quick Step in the final. We have also trained with this group. We are going better and better. As a result, the pressure is again increased, but the explosion will happen soon and it may lead to a victory.”

“I am ambitious and I want to perform at the highest level,” he said.

“On paper this may not be a super great race, but there are some big names riding. I am riding to win here, it would be really nice. Of course, I would also like to do grand tours. That is my ultimate goal, but I cannot make it so. I think it's important that I shape my own route with my victories, and from there I can see how it goes.”

At the age of 30, Bos still have several more years to obtain respectable results in cycling major races he is craving for, but the Dutchman is aware that for sprinters time is ticking faster and every next season he’ll be forced to face younger and more powerful competition.

“I still enjoy cycling. And there is still more to my development. I do know that I will finish my career on the track. Not at a high level, I think. I would still like to ride those keirin races in Japan. That is still my heart.”