He was one of the top sprinters in road bicycle racing, having won the world championship three times, equalling Alfredo Binda, Rik Van Steenbergen, Eddy Merckx and Peter Sagan.

[2] Born in Torrelavega, Cantabria, (where the town has named a velodrome in his honour)[2] Freire became professional in 1998 with Vitalicio Seguros.

[2] Prior to winning the World Championships, ONCE had expressed interest in signing him, but following victory his inflated price was too high, meaning that he never rode for a native team again.

Freire won the fifth and ninth stages in the 2006 Tour de France and was contesting the points classification when he retired due to illness.

Freire continued his successful year by winning the Vattenfall Cyclassics ahead of German favourite Erik Zabel.

His season was cut short by neck and spinal injuries, forcing him to miss the Vuelta a España and world championship.

Freire ended negotiations to continue his contract with his team before the race, and noted health issues include worsening respiratory problems, having had sinus and nasal surgery in the last two years.

[6] Initially, Freire planned to finish his career by 2012, but at the end of season 2011 he suddenly changed his mind.

[7] By 2012 Freire fully recovered from his previous health problems and managed to show very good results at the first opening races.

At the spring classics Óscar Freire finished 7th at Milan–San Remo, while having taken two second places: one at E3 Harelbeke where he was edged on the line by Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma–Quick-Step)[8] and the other at the Brabantse Pijl, where he dominated the sprint of the chasers after lone escapee Thomas Voeckler of Team Europcar had crossed the line.

He escaped from the lead group with 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) to cover and held an advantage of 18 seconds at the bottom of the final climb, the Cauberg.

[10] In an interview to the French magazine Velochrono, Freire claimed to take part in the Olympics in London along with the Tour de France and UCI Road World Championships.

[12] He retired from professional cycling at the end of 2012, reportedly refusing a deal from Euskaltel–Euskadi, who would have liked him to race for the 2013 season and then take a post in management.