Cees Bol has been having a difficult season, but he has not lost hope of a big win in the closing months of the year, as he looks to succeed before leaving
Team DSM into the 2023 season.
"I left the Tour de Suisse with COVID-19. I was pretty sick after Paris-Nice, too, and in the winter, I had some problems with the knee. There's also definitely been times where the shape has been good, and I've been riding well. But it's a bit out of balance, I would say," Bol told Cyclingnews at the
Arctic Race of Norway, where he struggled through the week without a result to show for his disappointing season.
Over the 2020 and 2021 season Bol was an emerging sprinter within Team DSM, but this season he has struggled with results, finishing in the Top10 at sprints in the Tour de Suisse and Tour of Turkey, but without contesting a win, and largely missing bunch sprints in other big races where he was lined up. At the Giro d'Italia he managed to play a role in
Alberto Dainese's win in Reggio Emilia, however that has been the highlight of the season for the Dutchman.
Now, moving away from Team DSM, he is set to join B&B Hotels-KTM, possibly alongside Mark Cavendish as the team prepares for an important budget increase. "It's been a good time here and we'll see when there's more news about the future. I can't say too much about it. I haven't signed anywhere but I don't think it will be too long anymore," he said regarding that.
Bol struggled in Norway, but with two months of competition left he is still hoping to get back to his best form and take his first win of the year. "I have a really nice race programme actually," he reveals.
"I'll do Hamburg next and then the Tour of Britain, and then a lot of the Belgian one-day races. They're nice races for me, and I look forward to racing them. I hope the form is coming a bit more, I think so," the 27-year old concluded.