Freire family laments news of Oscar's disappearance: "It is a strictly personal and intimate matter"
Cycling
The cycling world had one of it's biggest scares in recent days as it was reported in local news that former Spanish rider and three-time World Champion Óscar Freire had left his home without giving information, without wallet and keys and had been gone for two days. His family informed the police who began a search, luckily successful. However, the family did not like that t personal matter leaked into the media.
"We do not understand the repercussions. There is no news," Óscar's brother Antonio told Marca. "Oscar has had a family problem and has been away from home for a few days and will return."
The disappearance of the Spaniard - who had recently been in the news quite a lot over the possibility of becoming Spain's new national coach - raised many concerns. Currently, his son Marcos races for UAE Team Emirates - XRG's development team and is set to become a pro rider in the coming years.
However at home not all was well. Details, of course, were not shared. But the episode followed a personal matter that the family had wished would stay private. "It is a strictly personal and intimate matter… Something private and should never have been disclosed to the media. At the same time, the cyclist himself and his family request that their privacy be respected and that comments about it on social networks cease."
The Freire family also told EFE Agency that "we regret the concern that the news of the temporary disappearance of Óscar Freire may have caused and at the same time we appreciate the interest shown by fans and the press in general". The 48-year old retired from cycling in 2012 but left an untouchable legacy including three World titles, three Milano-Sanremo titles, four stages and a green jersey at the Tour de France, and many more pro wins throughout his career.
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- Funny that they shorten women’s races but have no qualms about letting U23 do the same distances.Jumpyjohn23-03-2025
- Why is that relevant when discussing speed?Mistermaumau23-03-2025
- But he wasn’t the only one ;-)Mistermaumau23-03-2025
- Obviously the questions are more important to some here than to them or the team so I suggest looking for answers instead of asking questions between ourselves. We’ll probably get them unless someone actually goes to ask the protagonists themselves. Here are some starters : They like riding together; they have their own rivalry that helps bring out the best in both; they might get more points helping each other compared to racing separate races. In any case, unless we hear MJ complaining about it, I don’t think it’s going to change, it’s the Sepp Kuss syndrome all over again, fans lobbying against the will of the rider.Mistermaumau23-03-2025
- Mine goes to MVDP for entertaining us all year round :-) Stellar race, Ganna impressive in his own way as many predicted after some oddly lacklustre times.Mistermaumau23-03-2025
- i remember when not too long ago mathieu was regarded as a real tactical knucklehead. i’m not sure that was ever quite accurate, but it’s certainly the case that over the years he has become a real master tactician. in the biggest races, van der poel rarely makes choices that don’t fully optimize every specific advantage he has.OCexile23-03-2025
- Whatever the result, I believe the strategy by UAE to launch Pogacar was absolutely the right one. Unfortunately, they just were not able to execute it the way they must have planned, being all over the place at the start of the Cipressa.Cooldude23-03-2025
- They are without doubt not just the best two classics riders of this generation, but amongst the best of all time. MvdP is more suited to MSR and PR (which Pog has yet to race), while Pog is now almost untouchable at LBL and Lombardia. RVV is the only one where both basically have an equal chance to win.Cooldude23-03-2025
- bravissima!
maria2024202423-03-2025 - According to Tadej's Strava upload, he went up the Cipressa at an average speed of 37.6kph. Rocket ship! He did the 5.63km verified 'Cipressa' Strava segment in 8:59 minutes, which has a 4.3% average grade and total elevation gain of 229m. Naturally, he got the Strava KOM.Pogboom23-03-2025