Triple world road race champion Oscar Freire is feeling confident prior to tomorrow’s Milan-Sanremo, believing that he can add to his victories in 2004, 2007 and 2010. He was quickest last year, beating Tom Boonen (Quick Step), Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre) and the rest of the front group in the final sprint to the line, and believes he will be in the running again.
“I have thought in particular about Sanremo during Tirreno [Tirreno-Adriatico]. I must win,” he told Het Laaste Nieuws. “In this race, I am better than the other sprinters. In addition, I have my experience…I know how you can win Milan-Sanremo.”
As Freire’s world championship wins in Verona show, he is able to both sprint and to climb. The course there included the difficult ascent of the Torricelle, and even the specialists couldn’t shake him off. He’s underlined that ability in the years since, and believes he will cope with the inevitable moves on the Poggio. The strong attackers will try, but he doesn’t expect them to succeed.
“I don’t think someone out there can pull away, not even Philippe Gilbert,” he said. “I saw him have no impact on the uphills in Tirreno.”
Freire’s tactic will be to stay close, and then ensure he’s in the right position for the sprint. World under 23 road race champion Michael Matthews will also be riding the race for Rabobank, and is likely to give Freire assistance if its needed in the finale.
Appears sceptical about Contador:
Freire is from Spain, but has lived outside the country for many years. He’s got a different stance on his countryman Alberto Contador to many others from the Iberian peninsula, suggesting that there may be more to the story than has been said.
“In Spain everyone wants to believe in the story about the meat of Contador. But I live in Switzerland, where nobody believes him. For each positive test there is a story. It is not in nutritional supplements, or in the sweets of the aunt,” he said, referring to the positive test in 2002 by Gilberto Simoni.
The Italian tested positive for cocaine during the Giro d’Italia, and first claimed that the test result was due to dental work he had carried out. When science showed that the anaesthetic used by his dentist couldn’t be confused with the drug, he then claimed that the substance was in cough sweets bought by his aunt in South America.
Somewhat improbably, Simoni was cleared by his national cycling federation.