The 26-year-old took his first major success by winning the World Championship road race in 1999, overturning the form book and surprising the major contenders.

With stage two of the Tour de France finishing in Germany, home of sprint king Erik Zabel, the scene was set for an upset of smiliar proportions.

As the riders approached the line, the Mapei rider looked to have missed out with Zabel and Robbie McEwen battling it out for first place.

McEwen appeared to have finally got the better of the six-time green jersey wearer before Freire unleashed a sensational final push to take the win by the length of his bike.

The Australian sprinter looked disgusted with himself in stark contrast to Freire's delight in his first Tour de France.

A stage win had appeared a possibility in the opening week for Freire but, after finishing fifth the previous day in Luxembourg, he insisted he was destined for a similar fate this time around.

And, ominously for his rivals, he warned he can still get better.

He told Spanish television afterwards: "I felt a little better than yesterday. Yesterday I didn't appear to have the legs. This time I felt I had something extra."

Freire has tended to save his best for the biggest stage.

In 1999, he was the surprise world champion and followed that up with a second world title last year to join the likes of Greg Lemond, Gianni Bugno and Freddy Maertens as two-time winners of that crown.

But this year he has failed to produce quite the same performances in the big events.

He managed impressive fifth places in both the Milan-San-Remo and the Amstel Gold Race before a meagre 62nd in his national championships, his final event before the Tour.

Despite finally getting the better of the world's leading sprinters once more, it has not been an easy 12 months for Freire.

Now finally clear of injury woes, the Spaniard has been dogged by ongoing back problems.

Last year his injury setbacks were further exacerbated by viral gastro-enteritis.

But perhaps the most remarkable fact about his stage two victory comes from pre-Tour comments from Freire himself.

The world champion insisted his Mapei bosses had been wrong to name him in their Tour line-up as he was "not in peak form".

It remains to be seen what lies in store for his sprint rivals should that form improve over the remainder of the race.