Rabobank sprinter Oscar Freire has undergone successful surgery to remove polyps from his nasal passages in hospital in Helmond, Netherlands. The three-time World champion has been plagued with breathing difficulties, especially during bad weather since the spring; the condition forced him to miss Giro d’Italia in May.
The problem reportedly lessened during the Tour de France but flared up once more in the third week. The team’s medical staff decided that the best course of action was to have the condition operated on immediately after the race finished.
Freire has won four stages of the Tour, and won the green points jersey in 2008; he was unable to perform to anything like his expected level in this year’s race though, with two fifth places on stages 18 and 20 his best results.
Prognosis is said to be very good and the Spaniard is currently recovering at home in Switzerland; according to the team though, he may return to racing as early as next week.
With the World Championships course in Melbourne, Australia apparently suited to a sprinter who can get over a few climbs, Freire looks a good bet for an unprecedented fourth rainbow jersey. His former teammate Paolo Bettini, now the Italian head coach, visited the course recently and proclaimed Freire to be one of the favourites.