Oscar Freire (Rabobank) was in high spirits after his win in Paris-Tours last week.(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Oscar Freire still has goals for 2011 and perhaps beyond.(Image credit: Bert Geerts/dcp-bertgeerts@xs4all.nl)
A very serious-looking Oscar Freire heads to the sign on.(Image credit: Bert Geerts/dcp-bertgeerts@xs4all.nl)
Oscar Freire wants to keep on riding until “at least” after the Olympics in London in 2012. The Spaniard, who rides for Rabobank, has his eye on his fourth Olympic participation, barring crashes or serious injuries in the coming season.
The 34-year-old said that any athlete should be motivated to ride in the Olympics as it is a “totally different experience,” according to Marca.
"Usually cyclists “are always in a cycling environment when you go to a competition. But when you are in the Olympics, you meet other athletes, and that is something you must experience.”
Freire has won many honours, including the world road title three times, but an Olympic medal is still missing from his collection.
The Spaniard has often spoken of retiring, hinting that each season is his last, but so far has always changed his mind. 2010 was no exception and he admitted that if he had not been so successful this year, he might be gone by now.
"I took two important victories in different classics (his third Milan-San Remo and first Paris-Tours) and, above all, I ended up wanting to go on," he said. But if things “had not gone well”, he would have retired.
Freire will start his 2010 campaign with the Mallorca Challenge and the Vuelta a Andalucia, with both Tirreno-Adriatico and Milano-San Remo also on his calendar. He will “probably” not ride the Tour this year, however, and instead concentrate on preparing for the world championships in Copenhagen.
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