Óscar Freire Gómez (born 15 February 1976) is a former Spanish professional road bicycle racer. He was one of the top sprinters in road bicycle racing, having won the world championship three times, equalling Alfredo Binda,

Rik Van Steenbergen Rik Van Steenbergen (9 September 1924 – 15 May 2003) was a Belgian racing cyclist, considered to be one of the best among the great number of successful Belgian cyclists. Early life Van Steenbergen was born in Arendonk into a poor fami ...

Eddy Merckx Édouard Louis Joseph, Baron Merckx (, ; born 17 June 1945), better known as Eddy Merckx, is a Belgian former professional road and track bicycle racer who is among the most successful riders in the history of competitive cycling. His victorie ...

and

Peter Sagan Peter Sagan (; born 26 January 1990) is a Slovak professional road bicycle racer who currently rides for UCI ProTeam . Sagan had a successful junior cyclo-cross and mountain bike racing career, winning the junior cross-country race at the 2008 ...

. In the later years of his career, he became more of a classics rider. He has won the

cycling monument The Monuments are five classic cycle races generally considered to be the oldest, hardest and most prestigious one-day events in men's road cycling. They each have a long history and specific individual characteristics. They are currently the one- ...

Milan–San Remo three times, four stages in the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

and seven stages of the Vuelta a España, throughout a successful career. Despite his diminutive stature, Freire was a good sprinter. He had a training philosophy where he rode shorter distances than most pro cyclists, sometimes covering only about half the distance his colleagues would. When growing up he contracted tuberculosis and narrowly avoided having a leg amputated.Fotheringham, A. (2014). The Exile. In: E. Bacon and L. Birnie, ed., ''The Cycling Anthology: Volume One''. London: Yellow Jersey Press, pp.208-230.

Career

Vitalicio Seguros (1998–1999)

Born in Torrelavega, Cantabria, (where the town has named a velodrome in his honour) Freire became professional in 1998 with Vitalicio Seguros. He won one race that year, a stage of the Vuelta a Castilla y León. He came 11th in Paris–Tours. In 1999, Freire won little until the world championship in October. He went to

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in nor ...

to make up numbers in the Spanish team. He spent his prize on an elevator for his grandmother's apartment. After his victory, as with all his victories, his grandmother sung a regional folk song on his telephone. Prior to winning the World Championships, ONCE had expressed interest in signing him, but following victory his inflated price was too high, meaning that he never rode for a native team again.

Mapei-Quick Step (2000–2002)

Freire joined Mapei in 2000. It had been ranked best team since 1994. That year he won 11 races including two stages in the Vuelta a España. He also came third place in the world championship. In 2001 he won two races and took the points competition in the Vuelta a Burgos, before becoming world champion for the second time. In 2002 he won a stage in the

. Upon joining the team, he spent his salary on a new family home for his parents and grandmother.

Rabobank (2003–2011)

In 2003, Freire moved to

Rabobank Rabobank (; full name: ''Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A.'') is a Dutch multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Utrecht, Netherlands. The group comprises 89 local Dutch Rabobanks (2019), a central organisation (Raboban ...

, where in his first season he won six races. In 2004 he won Milan–San Remo, Trofeo Luis Puig, a stage and second place overall in

Tirreno–Adriatico Tirreno–Adriatico, nicknamed the "Race of the Two Seas", is an elite road cycling stage race in Italy, run between the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic coasts. Traditionally held in the early part of the season, it is considered to be an important prep ...

, a stage in the Vuelta a España and for the third time, and the second time in Verona, the world championship. He started 2005 winning three stages, the points classification and the yellow jersey at Tirreno–Adriatico, as well as the

Brabantse Pijl The Brabantse Pijl ( en, Brabant Arrow, french: italic=yes, Flèche Brabançonne or ''Flèche Branconne'') is a Flanders Classics road bicycle race held annually in Flemish Brabant and in Walloon Brabant, Belgium. Since 2005, the race has been or ...

, Trofeo Alcudia and

Trofeo Mallorca The Challenge Vuelta Ciclista a Mallorca ( en, Tour of Majorca, ca, Challenge Volta Ciclista a Mallorca) is a series of four (five until 2012) professional one day road bicycle races held on the Spanish island of Mallorca in late January or earl ...

, all before the end of March. His season was then cut short by a saddle sore. In 2006, Freire won his second consecutive Brabantse Pijl. His stage 3 win at

allowed him to lead for two days. At the

Tour de Suisse The Tour de Suisse ( en, Tour of Switzerland) is an annual road cycling stage race. Raced over eight days, the event covers two weekends in June, and along with the Critérium du Dauphiné, it is considered a proving ground for the Tour de France ...

, he survived an early break of four riders to win alone on stage 7. Freire won the fifth and ninth stages in the

2006 Tour de France The 2006 Tour de France was the 93rd edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It took place between the 1st and the 23rd of July. It was won by Óscar Pereiro following the disqualification of Floyd Landis. Due to the United ...

and was contesting the points classification when he retired due to illness. During stage twelve, he was in a breakaway with three others. Freire's career has been blighted with injury and lay-offs. He had back problems, saddle sores and neck problems. When Yaroslav Popovych, riding for the

Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team U.S. Postal Service Pro Cycling Team was a United States-based professional road bicycle racing team. On June 15, 2004, the Discovery Channel signed a deal to become sponsor of the team for the 2004–2007 seasons and its name changed to Disc ...

, rode away for victory, rumours spread that Freire had been ordered by Rabobank not to ride for the victory, to secure help from the Discovery Team in the mountains. Although rumours were denied by both teams, Freire was upset after the stage. Freire continued his successful year by winning the Vattenfall Cyclassics ahead of German favourite

Erik Zabel Erik Zabel (; born 7 July 1970) is a German former professional road bicycle racer who raced most of his career with Telekom. With 152 professional wins and 211 wins in his career, he is considered by some to be one of the greatest German cycl ...

. Freire had half of Rabobank's victories in 2006. His season was cut short by neck and spinal injuries, forcing him to miss the Vuelta a España and world championship. Freire re-signed for Rabobank in late 2006 until the end of 2008, rejecting Saunier Duval-Prodir. Tour de France 2008, zubeldia martinez freire (22213960375)

Tour de France 2008, zubeldia martinez freire (22213960375)

In the

2007 Tour de France The 2007 Tour de France the 94th running of the race, took place from 7 to 29 July. The Tour began with a prologue in London, and ended with the traditional finish in Paris. Along the way, the route also passed through Belgium and Spain. It was ...

, he did not win a stage, partly because

was defending Michael Rasmussen's lead for a large part of the race. But he won three stages in the Vuelta a España. In the 2008 Tour, Freire wore the green jersey from stage 8. He won stage 14 and the

points classification The points classification is a secondary award category in road bicycle racing. Points are given for high finishes and, in some cases, for winning sprints at certain places along the route, most often called ''intermediate sprints''. The points cl ...

. In the 2009 Tour he and Julian Dean were shot by an air rifle during the 13th stage from

Vittel Vittel (; archaic ) is a commune in the Vosges department in Grand Est in northeastern France. Mineral water is bottled and sold here by Nestlé Waters France, under the '' Vittel'' brand. History In 1854, after visiting the baths at nearby ...

to Colmar. He was shot in the thigh and finished the stage 117th. In March 2010, Freire won the

2010 Milan–San Remo The 2010 Milan–San Remo was the 101st running of the Milan–San Remo cycling race, held on 20 March. The race was won by Óscar Freire Óscar Freire Gómez (born 15 February 1976) is a former Spanish professional road bicycle racer. He w ...

in front of Tom Boonen and

Alessandro Petacchi Alessandro Petacchi (born 3 January 1974) is an Italian former professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 1996 and 2015. A specialist Cycling sprinter, sprinter, Petacchi has won 48 Grand Tour (cycling), grand tour stages ...

. On 10 October 2010 Freire became the first Spaniard to win Paris–Tours and in doing so became the new holder of the

Ruban Jaune The Ruban Jaune ''(English; Yellow Ribbon)'' is a cycling title created in 1936 by Henri Desgrange, awarded to the rider recording the fastest average speed in a professional cycling race or stage longer than 200 km. The name is thought is to ...

for setting the fastest average speed in a classic race, he covered the 233 km at an average of 47.73 km per hour. Cyclingnews.com
Gives details of 2010 edition of Paris–Tours. Shortly before the

2011 UCI Road World Championships The 2011 UCI Road World Championships took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, over 19–25 September 2011. The event consisted of a cycling road race and a time trial for men, women, men under 23, and for the first time since 2004 the junior men and ...

it was announced that Óscar Freire would retire at the end of the season if he did not win the World Championship road race. Freire ended negotiations to continue his contract with his team before the race, and noted health issues include worsening respiratory problems, having had sinus and nasal surgery in the last two years. He was unable to race the

2011 Tour de France The 2011 Tour de France was the 98th edition of the race. It started on 2 July at the Passage du Gois and ended on the Champs-Élysées in Paris on 24 July. The cyclists competed in 21 stages over 23 days, covering a distance of . The route e ...

and was forced to abandon the 2011 Vuelta a España.Cyclingnews.com
Freire: World title or retirement.

Team Katusha (2012)

Initially, Freire planned to finish his career by 2012, but at the end of season 2011 he suddenly changed his mind. While his home

team, confused by the situation and Oscar's indecision, failed to provide him an extension for another year, Freire had to start talks with other teams. Omega Pharma-Quick Step, Lotto-Belisol and Geox-TMC expressed their interest to secure his service for season 2012, but Freire chose Team Katusha. He was reported to have been swayed by Team Katusha because the Russian team had a good number of other Spanish riders on its roster along with its well-organised structure and guaranteed entry into WorldTour races. By 2012 Freire fully recovered from his previous health problems and managed to show very good results at the first opening races. In January he won stage 3 of Australian Tour Down Under, and then completed his success at stage 3 of Vuelta a Andalucia. At the spring classics Oscar Freire finished 7th at Milan–San Remo, while having taken two second places: one at

E3 Harelbeke E3 Saxo Bank Classic, previously known as E3 BinckBank Classic, E3 Harelbeke, Harelbeke–Antwerp–Harelbeke and E3-Prijs Vlaanderen, is an annual road cycling race in Flanders, Belgium. The race starts and finishes in Harelbeke, covering 203 kil ...

where he was edged on the line by Tom Boonen () and the other at the

, where he dominated the sprint of the chasers after lone escapee

Thomas Voeckler Thomas Voeckler (; born 22 June 1979) is a French former road racing cyclist, who competed professionally between 2001 and 2017, for the team and its previous iterations. One of the most prominent French riders of his generation, Voeckler has b ...

of had crossed the line. He then went on to finish 4th in the

Amstel Gold Race The Amstel Gold Race is an annual one-day classic road cycling race held in the province of Limburg, Netherlands. It traditionally marks the turning point of the spring classics, with the climbers and stage racers replacing the cobbled classic ...

. He escaped from the lead group with to cover and held an advantage of 18 seconds at the bottom of the final climb, the

Cauberg The Cauberg is a hill in Valkenburg aan de Geul, a town in the South Limburg region of the Netherlands. The hill played an important role in the early development of tourism in Valkenburg. Today, several major tourist attractions are situated on o ...

. He was passed in the final meters, but managed to hold on for fourth. In an interview to the French magazine Velochrono, Freire claimed to take part in the Olympics in London along with the

and

UCI Road World Championships The UCI Road World Championships are the annual world championships for bicycle road racing organized by the (UCI). The UCI Road World Championships consist of events for road race and individual time trial, and a mixed team relay. Events ...

. Freire later admitted that he was contemplating retirement if he didn't win the rainbow jersey, and that he would keep riding for another year or two if he wins the 2012 UCI Championships. He retired from professional cycling at the end of 2012, reportedly refusing a deal from , who would have liked him to race for the 2013 season and then take a post in management. The Basque team was suspected of trying to hoard in Freire's crucial

UCI World Tour The UCI WorldTour (2009–2010: ''UCI World Ranking'') is the premier men's elite road cycling tour, sitting above the UCI ProSeries and various regional UCI Continental Circuits. It refers to both the tour of 38 events and, until 2019, an ann ...

points, which would help them get a World Tour license for 2013, but the team management denied it. In retirement he went to live, with his family, in Switzerland.Fotheringham, A. (2014). The Exiile. In: E. Bacon and L. Birnie, ed., ''The Cycling Anthology: Volume One''. London: Yellow Jersey Press, pp.208-230.

Career achievements

Major results

;1997 : 2nd Silver medal blank

Road race, UCI Road World Under–23 Championships ;1998 : 1st Stage 1 Vuelta a Castilla y León : 3rd Road race, National Road Championships : 3rd Clásica de Almería : 3rd

Circuito de Getxo The Circuito de Getxo ( en, Getxo Circuit) is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in July in Getxo, Spain. Since 2005, the race is organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle ...

: 4th

GP Villafranca de Ordizia Prueba Villafranca de Ordizia – Clásica de Ordizia is a Spanish professional cycle road race held in Ordizia, Basque Country. The first edition was held in 1922. Since 2005, the race has been organized as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour ...

: 5th

Giro della Romagna The Giro della Romagna was a semi classic European bicycle race held in the Italian region of Romagna. After 2005, the race was organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. The race was discontinued in 2011, and in 2013, it merged with the Me ...

;1999 : 1st Jersey rainbow

Road race,

;2000 : 1st Trofeo Palma de Mallorca : Vuelta a España ::1st Stages 2 & 4 ::Held Jersey silver

after Stages 4–7 :

::1st Stages 1 & 6 : 1st Stage 3 Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana : 1st Stage 3

Giro della Provincia di Lucca The Giro della Provincia di Lucca was a professional road bicycle race held annually in Province of Lucca, Italy held between 1999 and 2006. From 2005, the race was organized as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are ...

: 2nd Trofeo Luis Puig : 3rd Bronze medal blank

Road race,

: 3rd Overall Escalada a Montjuïc ::1st Stage 1a : 3rd Milan–San Remo : 4th Trofeo Sóller : 5th Clásica de San Sebastián : 6th

Züri-Metzgete Züri-Metzgete (Zürich German; en, Championship of Zürich; german: Meisterschaft von Zürich) was a European Classic cycle race held annually in Zürich, Switzerland, and continued as a non-professional mass participation event from 2007 unt ...

: 8th Overall

Vuelta a Aragón Vuelta a Aragón is a professional bicycle road race held in Spain in May of each year. The event was first run in 1939, and was not held between 2006 and 2017. The future of the race is uncertain; there had been plans to organise it again, but an ...

::1st

Points classification ::1st Stages 3 & 4 : 8th

Lancaster Classic The Tom Bamford Lancaster Classic was a professional road bicycle race held in late May or early June between 1992 and 2007 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA. With the exception of the first race, which was , the Lancaster Classic covered about . D ...

: 9th

;2001 : 1st Jersey rainbow

Road race,

: Vuelta a Burgos ::1st Jersey green

Points classification ::1st Stage 5 : 1st Stage 4

Deutschland Tour The Deutschland Tour (English: ''Tour of Germany'' and sometimes ''Deutschland-Rundfahrt'' in German) is the most important multi-stage road bicycle race in Germany. Initially the race was held in May/June, but from 2005 until 2008 it was moved t ...

: 2nd Paris–Tours ;2002 : 1st

Trofeo Manacor The Challenge Vuelta Ciclista a Mallorca ( en, Tour of Majorca, ca, Challenge Volta Ciclista a Mallorca) is a series of four (five until 2012) professional one day road bicycle races held on the Spanish island of Mallorca in late January or earl ...

: 1st Trofeo Sóller : 1st Stage 2

: 3rd Overall

: 4th Rund um den Henninger Turm : 5th Milan–San Remo : 5th

;2003 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

::1st Stage 1 & 2 : Vuelta a Andalucía ::1st Jersey green

Points classification ::1st Stage 1 & 2 : 1st Stage 7

: 1st Stage 5 Volta a Catalunya : 2nd

: 4th Rund um den Henninger Turm : 4th

: 5th Gran Premio Bruno Beghelli : 6th

Paris–Brussels The Brussels Cycling Classic (known until June 2013 as Paris–Brussels) is a semi classic European bicycle race, one of the oldest races on the international calendar. History Paris–Brussels was first run on 12 August 1893 as an amateur eve ...

: 6th Trofeo Sóller : 7th Milan–San Remo : 8th Overall Ronde van Nederland : 9th Road race,

;2004 : 1st Jersey rainbow

Road race,

: 1st Milan–San Remo : 1st Trofeo Luis Puig : 1st Trofeo Alcúdia : 1st Stage 6 Vuelta a España : 1st Jersey blue

Points classification Tour de Luxembourg : 2nd Overall

::1st Stage 3 : 2nd Trofeo Palma de Mallorca : 3rd Trofeo Calvia : 4th

HEW Cyclassics The Hamburg Cyclassics (currently known as the Bemer Cyclassics for sponsorship purposes) is an annual one-day professional and amateur cycling race in and around Hamburg, Germany. Although the route varies, its distance is always around 250 ...

: 9th Overall Sachsen Tour : 9th

;2005 : 1st Overall Tirenno–Adriatico ::1st Jersey red

Points classification ::1st Stages 2, 3 & 4 : 1st

: 1st Trofeo Alcúdia : 1st Trofeo Palma de Mallorca : 3rd Trofeo Luis Puig : 5th Milan–San Remo : 5th

La Flèche Wallonne La Flèche Wallonne (, French for "The Walloon Arrow") is a men's professional cycle road race held in April each year in Wallonia, Belgium. The first of two Belgian Ardennes classics, La Flèche Wallonne is today normally held mid-week betw ...

;2006 : 1st

: 1st Vattenfall Cyclassics : 1st

RaboRonde Heerlen RaboRonde Heerlen or Profronde van Heerlen ( en, Proftour Heerlen) is an elite men's and women's professional road bicycle racing event held annually in Heerlen, Netherlands. It's one of the largest post-Tour de France criteriums with about 50,000 ...

::1st Stages 5 & 9 : 1st Stage 7

: 1st Stage 4

Tour of the Basque Country The Tour of the Basque Country (Officially: ''Itzulia Basque Country'', es, Vuelta al País Vasco, links=no, eu, Euskal Herriko Itzulia) is an annual road cycling stage race held in the Spanish Basque Country in April. It is one of the races ...

: 1st Stage 3 Tirenno–Adriatico : 6th Milan–San Remo ;2007 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall Vuelta a Andalucía ::1st Jersey green

Points classification ::1st Stages 2 & 5 : 1st Milan–San Remo : 1st

: 1st Trofeo Palma de Mallorca : Vuelta a España ::1st Stages 2, 5 & 6 ::Held Jersey gold

after Stages 2–3 ::Held Jersey granate

after Stages 2–9 : 2nd Vattenfall Cyclassics : 3rd

Gent–Wevelgem Gent–Wevelgem, officially Gent–Wevelgem – In Flanders Fields, is a road cycling race in Belgium, held annually since 1934. It is one of the classic races part of the Flemish Cycling Week, run in late March on the last Sunday before the To ...

: 3rd Paris–Tours : 8th

: 10th Trofeo Calvia ;2008 : 1st

::1st

Points classification The points classification is a secondary award category in road bicycle racing. Points are given for high finishes and, in some cases, for winning sprints at certain places along the route, most often called ''intermediate sprints''. The points cl ...

::1st Stage 14 :

::1st

Points classification ::1st Stages 1, 4 & 6 : 1st Stage 11 Vuelta a España : 1st Stage 1

: 2nd Clásica de Almería : 8th Milan–San Remo ;2009 :

Tour de Romandie The Tour de Romandie is a stage race which is part of the UCI World Tour. It runs through the Romandie region, or French-speaking part of Switzerland. The competition began in 1947, to coincide with the 50-year anniversary of Swiss Cycling. It ...

::1st Stages 2 & 5 : 5th Paris–Tours ;2010 : 1st Milan–San Remo : 1st Paris–Tours : 1st Trofeo Calla Millor :

::1st Stages 1 & 2 : Vuelta a Andalucía ::1st Jersey blue

Points classification ::1st Stages 2 & 3 : 3rd Trofeo Palma de Mallorca : 6th Road race,

: 8th Overall

Tour of Belgium The Tour of Belgium ( nl, Ronde van België; french: Tour de Belgique) is a five-day bicycle race which is held annually in Belgium, and is part of the UCI ProSeries. It was held annually between 1908 and 1981, except during both world wars. Bet ...

: 9th

;2011 : Vuelta a Andalucía ::1st Jersey blue

Points classification ::1st Stages 3 & 4 : 1st Stage 1 ( TTT)

: 2nd Trofeo Magaluf-Palmanova : 6th

: 7th Grand Prix de Wallonie : 9th Road race,

;2012 : 1st Stage 4 Tour Down Under : 1st Stage 3 Vuelta a Andalucía : 2nd

: 2nd

: 3rd

: 4th

: 7th Milan–San Remo : 10th Road race,

General classification results timeline

Classics results timeline

References

External links

Official Site

Profile on Katusha website
*
Oscar Freire's Profile on Cycling Base
{{DEFAULTSORT:Freire, Oscar Cyclists from Cantabria Cyclists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic cyclists of Spain Spanish male cyclists Spanish Tour de France stage winners UCI Road World Champions (elite men) 1976 births Living people People from Torrelavega Spanish Vuelta a España stage winners Tour de Suisse stage winners