Freire was rewarded for his attack with 4km left

The Rabobank rider finished three seconds ahead of Italy's Daniele Bennati, in a time of five hours, 38 minutes and 49 seconds.

Freire made a solo break with 4km of the 233km stage remaining after jumping a footpath to cut a corner and steal a march on his rivals.

Spain's Koldo Gil retains the overall lead for the Saunier Duval team.

With two stages left to race, Gil is 30 seconds ahead Germany's Joerg Jaksche and 50 seconds clear of Jan Ullrich.

Stage result:
1. Oscar Freire (Spa/Rabobank) 5:38:49"
2. Daniele Bennati (Ita/Lampre) +3"
3. Erik Zabel (Ger/Milram) ST
4. Sebastien Hinault (Fra/Credit Agricole) ST
5. Markus Zberg (Swi/Gerolsteiner) ST
6. Tom Boonen (Bel/Quick-Step) ST
7. Gert Steegmans (Bel/Davitamon-Lotto) ST
8. Allan Davis (Aus/Wuerth) ST
9. Alexei Markov (Rus/Caisse d'Epargne) ST
10. Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra/Cofidis) ST

Overall classification:
1. Koldo Gil (Spa/Saunier Duval ) 33:22:21"
2. Joerg Jaksche (Ger/Wuerth ) +30"
3. Jan Ullrich (Ger/T-Mobile ) +50"
4. Angel Vicioso (Spa/Wuerth ) +2:03"
5. Jose Angel Gomez Marchante (Spa/Saunier Duval ) +2:15"
6. Fraenk Schleck (Lux/Team CSC ) +2:22"
7. Janez Brajkovic (Slo/Discovery Channel ) +2:36"
8. Giampaolo Caruso (Ita/Wuerth ) +2:45"
9. Linus Gerdemann (Ger/T-Mobile ) +3:30"
10. Alexandre Botcharov (Rus/Credit Agricole ) +3:42"