Oscar Freire has two regrets from his career: “Teams never allowed it”

Freire retired at the end of 2012 and won, among other things, three world titles and Milan-Sanremo on three occasions, as well as the green jersey in the Tour de France, multiple stages in Grand Tours and one-day races such as Gent-Wevelgem, Paris-Tours and La Flèche Brabançonne. “I always handled pressure well. I was a rider who performed very well under pressure.”

The Spaniard spent three seasons with Mapei, nine with Rabobank and finished his career at Katusha: all foreign teams. “I think foreign teams appreciated me more and invested more in me, probably because they were financially stronger.”

"But anyway, I always said that the fault was not with me. I followed my own path and I think if I were to redo my cycling career, I would take the same steps," said Freire, who was also sometimes critical of the Rabo culture when we spoke to him about it.

There is now another Freire in the peloton, with his 19-year-old son Marcos riding for UAE’s development team. Freire junior is the same age as, for example, Paul Seixas. “Modern cycling is starting to look more and more like football. Young talents are picked up at a very early age, and many of them ultimately do not make the breakthrough.”

“Cycling is a complicated world, unlike football, where you can play one match and more or less go unnoticed,” analysed Freire, who is currently an ambassador for Decathlon and therefore also shared his thoughts on the emerging Seixas.

“In France, they are hoping for the first French Tour de France winner in decades and expectations around him are high. It will be difficult as long as Pogačar keeps racing, but you never know. He is still very young and still has a lot of room to improve.”

Speaking of Pogačar, the Slovenian is still chasing victory in Milan-Sanremo, a race Freire won three times. “In the end, cycling is about taking those moments when they come. Sometimes circumstances do not allow it. We are seeing that with Pogačar as well, who wants to win Milan-Sanremo.”

“You often hear people say, ‘He could have done it, he could have done it,’ but so far it still hasn’t happened. When you are there and you have a real chance, you have to take it. I often say that one of the races that suited me best was probably the Tour of Flanders, but I never managed to win it.”

Alongside the fact that he never won Flanders, Freire has one other major regret: not continuing in mountain biking. “A lot of riders do it nowadays, and I was good at it, but the teams never allowed it. In the end, it never happened. I think I was a better mountain biker than road rider, but I was never given the chance to do it.”