Oscar Freire will go for the Ochre jersey during the stage 4 of the Santos Tour
In a shocking turn of events, Oscar Freire brought the first season victory for his new side, Team Katusha. The cyclist sailed through the finish-line at the stage 4 of the Santos Tour and secured the victory.
The Spaniard is only two seconds behind to claim the Ochre jersey. Martin Kohler took the jersey from Andre Greipel who had a disappointing day.
Greipel was leading the general classifications and has now dropped down to the 55th spot after a tough day, during the 130 kilometre day 4 of the race.
It was a remarkable performance by Freire, considering the fact that the Spaniard is not used to the racing conditions.
Oscar normally starts his season a bit late in the year and has never participated in the inaugural UCI event, The Santos Tour.
The three times World Champion was quick enough to adjust to the Australian weather and it took him only three days to bag a stage win. Freire has now claimed the third spot after the stage 4 general classifications.
The stage win holds a lot of importance for the cyclist also because it is his first individual victory since the Stage 5 of the Ruta del Sol, which he claimed in February 2011.
Oscar was excited after the win, “It was a difficult finale. I knew I had a really good chance to win. The race was hard, it was better for me. I'm happy to score the team's first victory of the year after joining Katusha".
He is now eyeing the top podium position at the Santos Tour Down Under, "I'll try to get it tomorrow. It's unfortunate that I missed it today by only two seconds. Not having the jersey today takes a lot of pressure off you but it's also better to be ahead
of everyone else".
With two more stages remaining in the event, the 35-year-old has now secured the third spot at the general classifications of the event.
Martin Kohler and Michael Matthews are his main competitors, as the duo is holding the first and second overall spots.
Team Katusha has jumped from the 6th to the 3rd Team General Classifications spot after a stunning performance from its star cyclists.
With two more stages left in the race, Freire is definitely a top favourite to claim the overall classifications at the 2012 edition of the Santos Tour Down Under.
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