Five-time track sprint world champion Theo Bos has announced his retirement and will become coach of the Chinese track team.

The 38-year-old Dutchman won the national title in team sprint with his Beat Cycling Club teammates in 2017 and finished his career with a bronze medal in the 1km time trial at the 2018 Track World Championships in Apeldoorn. He continues to work for Beat Cycling as a consultant.

"In the last few years I have experienced top sport in a minimal way, without pressure, stress or expectations. I still managed to get results, but I noticed that it was getting harder and harder. When you look at how fast the riders are these days, you have to be realistic that it is no longer possible," Boss said on the "In Het Wiel" podcast.

Boss dominated men's track sprinting for a generation, winning five world titles in sprint and keirin; he won a silver medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics; from 2009 to 2016, he switched disciplines and had success in road racing as well, He won 37 races, including World Tour races.

This year, he tried to make the Dutch team for the Tokyo Olympics, but was unsuccessful. He also competed in the Keirin series in Japan and chose to coach in China rather than in Japan or his native Netherlands. He will soon move to Beijing, where he will coach until the 2024 Paris Olympics.

"In China, I have been given the task to rejuvenate and innovate the team. There is a lot of potential, a lot of resources. There is more to be gained from China than what is out there now," Boss said.

Boss revealed that negotiations for a coaching position in China took place during the disappearance of Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai.

"I had a list of pros and cons. The way I dealt with people there was, of course, one of the cons. I spoke to my new boss about it, but she couldn't say much about it over the phone," he said of the Chinese regime's control over people. [If I don't go, nothing will change. But at least I can talk about it with people around me."

"Can I talk about these things publicly? If I don't like it, I can always come back. In any case, I don't want to see what they are doing there through Western glasses."