Freire pips McEwen to take stage victory

OSCAR FREIRE claimed victory on stage nine of the Tour de France, winning a sprint finish by the narrowest of margins ahead of Robbie McEwen and Erik Zabel.

Freire suffered a big drop in the standings — from fourth to 74th — after finishing 134th in Saturday’s individual time trial, but bounced back yesterday by emerging first following a massive scramble for the line in Dax.

The stage was dominated by Stephane Auge, Walter Beneteau and Christian Knees, who broke away from the start in Bordeaux and led by seven minutes 56 seconds at the 60-km mark.