Green Jersey in Sight for Freire
At 34, Spanish cyclist Oscar Freire has had plenty of opportunities to make his mark on the UCI ProTour. Despite picking up no wins in the early stages of this year’s Tour de France, the three-time world champion is certain to contend in the remainder of the sprints over the next few weeks.
At only 23 years of age, Freire became road race world champion in 1999. Two years later, in 2001, Freire claimed the title for the second time, and two years after that, he made it a third.
Outside of the Tour, Freire has also claimed an impressive seven stage wins in the Vuelta a España in his home country. Three of these stage victories came in 2007.
Despite only winning one stage in the 2008 Tour, Freire still managed to come away with the points classification in that year. He won his first stage of the Tour in 2002, and picked up another two stage wins in 2006 before having to retire from illness. Had he not, Freire could currently be contending for his third green jersey and not his second.
In 2007, Freire’s hopes of claiming the points classification disappeared as fellow Team RaboBank rider Michael Rasmussen needed all the support he could get in challenging for the general classification.
After claiming the jersey in 2008, Freire was struck by an air rifle during Stage 13 of the 2009 Tour, leading him to finish the stage 113th. No serious injury was sustained, but coupled with a lack of form, the incident contributed to Freire not performing at his best during last year’s Tour.
Earlier this year, Freire won the Milan-San Remo race in splendid fashion, finishing ahead of fellow sprint experts Tom Boonen of Team Quick Step and Lampre’s Alessandro Petacchi, the Italian rider who has already claimed two stages in this year’s Tour.
Despite being only 1.71m tall, Freire has developed a technique strong enough to contend in any sprint. If supported sufficiently by his RaboBand teammates, Freire is tipped to collect at least one stage win in the current Tour.
Then, of course, there is the points classification, a category where Freire currently has 18 points after four stages, leaving him in 28th place.
While he will be supporting fellow RaboBank rider Denis Menchov for the overall win, Freire will also be looking to pounce on the opportunities handed to him in the sprint finishes.
After Stage 4, Freire seemed hopeful that sprinters other than heavily tipped favourite Mark Cavendish will be able to contend for the green jersey in the 2010 leg of the Tour.
“All sprinters suddenly smell an opportunity,” said Freire, commenting on Cavendish’s lacklustre sprint performances so far in the Tour.
Freire, who was knocked over by Cavendish in a crash during the Tour’s first stage, managed to keep his spirits high after the incident. "It's a bit painful, but I think it's not too bad. I felt very good and was in a good position, and then it was suddenly over," the Spanish rider explained to the press. "But that's cycling."
The crash occurred only 3km from the finish line. Out of the two riders, though, Freire recovered best in the coming stages.
However, his first stage win in the 2010 Tour has yet to come. If his performance in Wednesday’s Stage 4 is anything to go by, though, it shouldn't be too far away.
Far from the only rider to have crashed in the opening stages of this year’s Tour, Freire is now 118th in the overall standings, 11 minutes and one second behind Swiss yellow jersey holder Fabian Cancellara.
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