Óscar Freire

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Óscar Freire

Personal information
Full name	Óscar Freire Gómez
Nickname	The Cat, Oscarito
Date of birth	February 15, 1976 (1976-02-15) (age 32)
Country	Spain
Height	1.71 m (5 ft 7+1⁄2 in)
Weight	63 kg (140 lb/9.9 st)
Team information
Current team	Rabobank
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	Sprinter
Professional team(s)
1998–1999 2000–2002 2003–present	Vitalicio Seguros Mapei Rabobank
Major wins
World Cycling Champion (1999, 2001, 2004) Tour de France, 3 stages Vuelta a España, 6 stages Tirreno-Adriatico (2005) Milan-Sanremo (2004, 2007) Vattenfall Cyclassics (2006) Brabantse Pijl (2005, 2006, 2007) Ghent-Wevelgem (2008)
Infobox last updated on:
April 13, 2008

Óscar Freire Gómez (born February 15, 1976 in Torrelavega, Cantabria) is a Spanish professional road bicycle racer for the UCI ProTeam Rabobank. Freire is considered one of the top sprinters in road bicycle racing, having won the World Cycling Championship on a record-equalling three occasions, along with Alfredo Binda, Rik Van Steenbergen and Eddy Merckx, and the cycling monument Milan-Sanremo on two occasions.

[edit] Career

Freire became professional in 1998 at the Vitalicio Seguros team. Through the 1998 season Freire only won one race, a stage in the Vuelta a Castilla y León, and achieved eleventh place in the Paris-Tours UCI Road World Cup race. In 1999, Freire went the entire season without a major victory until the World Championships in October. Although Freire went to the World Championships in Verona seemingly only to make up the numbers of the Spanish team, he went on to take an unexpected victory. A photograph taken shortly after his win, in which he is calling his grandmother (who had no television) to tell her he had won, became famous. He spent the prize money on an elevator for his grandmother's apartment.

Freire is a sprinter who, unlike many other sprinters, does not need much help from his team mates to get into good position for a win. Despite his diminutive stature, Freire is one of the most feared sprinters in the peloton. He usually draws his own plan in which he hopes the element of surprise gives him the victory. Freire sometimes gets criticized for his training ethic, since he usually rides only half the training miles in comparison with other cyclists.

For the 2000 season, Freire was able to secure a contract with the Mapei cycling team. Mapei had been ranked as the best team since 1994 when Freire joined. That year he had a successful season, winning 11 races including two stages in the Vuelta a España, and a third place at the World Championships. In 2001 Freire had a modest season, winning two races and the points competition in the Vuelta a Burgos, before becoming world champion for the second time. In 2002 he was less successful, but still he won a stage in the Tour de France.

In 2003, Freire moved to the Rabobank team, where in his first season he won six races. 2004 was a more successful year: Freire won Milan-Sanremo, Trofeo Luis Puig, a stage in Tirreno-Adriatico and second place overall, a stage in the Vuelta a España and for the third time, and the second time in Verona, the World Championships. Freire enjoyed an excellent start to the 2005 season winning three stages, the points classification and the GC yellow jersey at the Tirreno-Adriatico, as well as the Brabantse Pijl, Trofeo Alcudia and Trofeo Mallorca, all before the end of March. His season was then cut short, and all attempts at victory in Grand Tour stages and Classic races eliminated, due to complications arising from a saddle sore.

In 2006, Freire won his second consecutive Brabantse Pijl. His stage 3 win at the Tirreno-Adriatico allowed him to wear the event's yellow jersey as the overall leader for 2 days, although Freire was unable to repeat his overall victory of 2005. At the Tour de Suisse, he survived an early break of four riders to record an impressive solo win on Stage 7.

In the 2006 Tour de France, Freire won the 5th and 9th stage, and was contesting the points classification until he was forced to retire from the race due to illness. During stage twelve, Freire was involved in a breakaway with three other riders. When Yaroslav Popovych, riding for the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team, rode away for the victory, rumours spread that Freire had been ordered by his Rabobank Directeur sportif not to ride for the victory, in order to secure help from the Discovery Team in the mountains for their general classification aims. Although such rumours were rubbished by both teams, Freire was visibly upset after the stage.

Freire continued his successful year by winning the Vattenfall Cyclassics, finishing ahead of German favourite Erik Zabel. This, his seventh victory of the year, means that Freire accounts for half of Rabobank’s victories in 2006. Freire's season was cut short by neck and spinal injuries, forcing him to miss both the Vuelta a España and World Championships.

Freire’s career has been blighted with injury and successive return to form following his lay-offs. He has suffered from back problems, saddle sores and most recently neck problems. Freire re-signed for the Rabobank team in late 2006 until the end of 2008, rejecting overtures and a possible lucrative contract from Saunier Duval-Prodir, citing that he felt comfortable with the Dutch squad.

[edit] Palmarès

Medal record
Competitor for  Spain
Road bicycle racing
UCI Road World Championships
Gold	1999 Verona	Elite Men's Road Race
Bronze	2000 Plouay	Elite Men's Road Race
Gold	2001 Lisbon	Elite Men's Road Race
Gold	2004 Verona	Elite Men's Road Race

Sporting positions
Preceded by Oskar Camenzind	World Road Racing Champion 1999	Succeeded by Romāns Vainšteins
Preceded by Romāns Vainšteins	World Road Racing Champion 2001	Succeeded by Mario Cipollini
Preceded by Igor Astarloa	World Road Racing Champion 2004	Succeeded by Tom Boonen

[edit] External links

• Official Site (Spanish)
• Profile on Rabobank website (Dutch)
• Palmarès at Trap-Friis.dk

v • d • e Riders on Rabobank Mauricio Ardila | Jan Boven | Graeme Brown | Bram de Groot | Thomas Dekker | Marc de Maar | Michiel Elijzen | Theo Eltink | Juan Antonio Flecha | Rick Flens | Óscar Freire | Robert Gesink | Mathew Hayman | Pedro Horrillo | Dmitri Kozontchuk | Sebastian Langeveld | Tom Leezer | Gerben Löwik | Paul Martens | Denis Menchov | Koos Moerenhout | Bauke Mollema | Grischa Niermann | Joost Posthuma | Bram Tankink | Laurens ten Dam | William Walker | Pieter Weening | Manager: Erik Breukink

Persondata
NAME	Freire, Óscar
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Freire Gómez, Óscar
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Road bicycle racer
DATE OF BIRTH	1976-02-15
PLACE OF BIRTH	Torrelavega, Cantabria, Spain
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH