win the rainbow jersey, and that he would keep riding for another year or two if he wins the 2012 UCI Championships. He retired from professional cycling at the end of 2012, reportedly refusing a deal from , who would have liked him to race for the 2013 season and then take a post in management. The Basque team was suspected of trying to hoard in Freire's crucial UCI World Tour points, which would help them get a World Tour license for 2013, but the team management denied it. In retirement he went to live, with his family, in Switzerland. Career achievements Major results 1997 2nd Road race, UCI Road World Under-23 Championships 1998 1st Stage 1 Vuelta a Castilla y León 3rd Road race, National Road Championships 3rd Clásica de Almería 3rd Circuito de Getxo 4th GP Villafranca de Ordizia 5th Giro della Romagna 1999 1st Road race, UCI Road World Championships 2000 1st Trofeo Palma de Mallorca Vuelta a España 1st Stages 2 & 4 Held after Stages 4–7 Tirreno–Adriatico 1st Stages 1 & 6 1st Stage 3 Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana 1st Stage 3 Giro della Provincia di Lucca 2nd Trofeo Luis Puig 3rd Road race, UCI Road World Championships 3rd Overall Escalada a Montjuïc 1st Stage 1a 3rd Milan–San Remo 4th Trofeo Sóller 5th Clásica de San Sebastián 6th Züri-Metzgete 8th Overall Vuelta a Aragón 1st Points classification 1st Stages 3 & 4 8th Lancaster Classic 9th Amstel Gold Race 2001 1st Road race, UCI Road World Championships Vuelta a Burgos 1st Points classification 1st Stage 5 1st Stage 4 Deutschland Tour 2nd Paris–Tours 2002 1st Trofeo Manacor 1st Trofeo Sóller 1st Stage 2 Tour de France 3rd Overall Tirreno–Adriatico 4th Rund um den Henninger Turm 5th Milan–San Remo 5th Amstel Gold Race 2003 1st Overall Giro della Provincia di Lucca 1st Stage 1 & 2 Vuelta a Andalucía 1st Points classification 1st Stage 1 & 2 1st Stage 7 Tirreno–Adriatico 1st Stage 5 Volta a Catalunya 2nd Brabantse Pijl 4th Rund um den Henninger Turm 4th Trofeo Manacor 5th Gran Premio Bruno Beghelli 6th Paris–Brussels 6th Trofeo Sóller 7th Milan–San Remo 8th Overall Ronde van Nederland 9th Road race, UCI Road World Championships 2004 1st Road race, UCI Road World Championships 1st Milan–San Remo 1st Trofeo Luis Puig 1st Trofeo Alcúdia 1st Stage 6 Vuelta a España 1st Points classification Tour de Luxembourg 2nd