Post-MSR quotes from Freire, Bennati

Cyclismag.com has had a number of quotes from post-MSR interviews with Bennati and Freire.  Here are my translations (from the French on cyclismag.com, which is in turn translated from other languages):

Beaten by Oscar Freire at Milan-San Remo, Daniele Bennati regretted that Vincenzo Nibali was absent from the leadout train that was supposed to bring him to the finish line: "Nibali was supposed to be in the leadout train, although it might not have been enough to beat Freire, who was overpowering.  But the instructions at the start were a bit different from how things turned out:  Vincenzo was free to play his own card on the ascent or the descent of the Poggio, but not on the flat during the finale".   But Nibali kept trying after the descent and Oss was the only man available to lead out the sprinter on the Via Aurelia:  “Oss worked amazingly hard, pedaling like three men, but I wish Nibali had been with us.  I’m disappointed because I had to go into the wind too early during the sprint” the Liquigas rider said.  

A three-time winner at San Remo, Oscar Freire thinks that he hasn’t always been able to count on the support of his team for the northern classics:  “During my entire career, I’ve fought to try to win different classic races.  I’m speaking of Amstel, Fleche Wallonne, Liège …  I’ve been near the winners but always behind them and never with the chance to fight for a win in the last part of the race.  There were one or two times when the fact that I was a foreigner within the team kept me from going for the win at Liège.”  The Spanish cyclist had to face up to a preference for racers from the team’s home country:  “At Rabobank there was Boogerd, and the team raced for him.  That’s how it was.  I understand it, and I have no quarrel with it.  I owe a lot to Rabobank, because it’s the team that had the most confidence in me.  But if they had bet a bit more on my chances in certain races …”   Boogerd has retired, Flecha is gone, but this year, Freire may have to share leadership with Lars Boom and Nick Nuyens at Liège, Huy, and Valkenburg – all races on his program.

A professional cyclist for 13 seasons, Oscar Freire has seen the time pass by without losing much physically.  “I looked at the poster of Vitalicio that was done my first year (1998) and I can see that I’m the only one left … This reminds me how many years have passed.  But physically I feel better than during my first few professional seasons.”  Freire has solved the back problems which often hampered him.  Now he pedals without pain:  “I have no health problems and it’s easier for me to race.  In addition, I have nothing to prove, even though I still put pressure on myself.  I’ve had victories over a long time span and I know I can still get more.  Being 34 years old doesn’t bother me.”  Beyond the northern classics, Freire has other things in mind:  “I still have a few goals to achieve – for example, I have never won a stage of the Giro, and this year could be the one”.