 Oscar Freire won three stages of the seven-stage race |
Oscar Freire claimed the lead in the new ProTour series after winning the Tirreno-Adriatico race. The Spaniard finished in the pack as Alessandro Petacchi won the final stage after beating Mario Cipollini and Danilo Hondo in a mass sprint finish.
Freire, who won three stages in the seven-stage event, moved ahead of Bobby Julich in the ProTour standings.
The next race in the competition is Saturday's Milan-San Remo one-day classic over a distance of 294km.
"I'm very happy to have won and to have ridden so well during all the race," said Freire, who took the overall lead after stage two.
 |  Alessandro Petacchi is the strongest sprinter on flat stages but nobody can win all the time |
"I felt good right from the first day and won three stages thanks to my climbing and sprinting ability."
And the 29-year-old is confident he can repeat the performance in San Remo.
"I'm at 100% of my form and so we'll have to see if I'm also lucky on Saturday," said Freire.
"Like last year, I know I'm going to have win the sprint to win San Remo but I think I can do it.
"Alessandro Petacchi is the strongest sprinter on flat stages but nobody can win all the time and San Remo never ends with a normal sprint because of the distance and the final hills."
MMIX
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