TruemorsOscar Freire watching the replay of the finish, wondering, "Where the heck did Mark Cavendish come from."
Especially because Mark had just crashed. Mark Cavendish was given a long illegal tow by his team car and was sling-shotted with the car to the finish.
Oscar was going to win, but when he got passed, he mentally quit, and finished 6th. After Cavendish was penalized 20 seconds, Oscar was relagated to 5th.
Losing this race was important for Oscar, because after this, he set his sights on winning the 2008 TDF Green Jersey, which he did with ease, finishing 52 points in front of the distant 2nd place of Erik Zabel.
Oscar Freire - 2008 Tour of California - Valencia
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NP! ID: 1460253
Title: Oscar Freire - 2008 Tour of California - Valencia
File Size: 1024 × 768 – 312.66 KB
Created: Sat, 08/09/2008 - 1:04pm
Modified: Sat, 08/09/2008 - 1:04pm
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at 13:25 on August 9th, 2008
I'm a huge Rabobank fan.
I watched Oscar coming extremely close to winning in Valencia during the 2008 Amgen Tour Of California (ATOC).
He was about 10 feet from the line when out of nowhere, Mark Cavendish flew by him.
When this happened, Oscar mentally quit and ended up finishing 6th.
I ran up to him and took this photo and he was extremely curious to watch the replay.
I told him that Cavendish had crashed and this left him really confused.
Later, Cavendish was penalized and the 2nd placed rider was relagated the win.
The next morning, I told Oscar, "You have to go full throttle all the way to the line."
Oscar said, "I only go for the win, and when I was passed, there's no more reason for me to go."
I explained to him, "2nd is better than 5th. You get more points for the Green Jersey." The Green Jersey is a very prestigious prize in the Tour de France (TDF).
I also said, "If you were full throttle all the way to the line, you would have finished 2nd and because of the penalty, you would have been 1st." "That's why it's very important to finish strong, because you never know."
He said, "You never know."
To try and cheer him up, I said, "Well. You can't win them all."
He agreed, but deep inside, he knew he gave this one away.
After this race, I watched every spring classic I could; and I noticed Oscar was full throttle, all the way to the line, every time; even if he was not winning. This carried over nicely into the TDF, where he wouldn't give away a single point; and claimed the Green Jersey with a commanding lead.
This is why this loss was very important for Oscar.
He realized that the best possible finish can be just as important as a win.
steady301