By 2012 Freire fully recovered from his previous health problems and managed to show very good results at the first opening races. In January he won stage 3 of Australian Tour Down Under, and then completed his success at stage 3 of Vuelta a Andalucia. At the spring classics Oscar Freire finished 7th at Milan–San Remo, while having taken two second places: one at E3 Harelbeke where he was edged on the line by Tom Boonen () and the other at the Brabantse Pijl, where he dominated the sprint of the chasers after lone escapee Thomas Voeckler of had crossed the line. He then went on to finish 4th in the Amstel Gold Race. He escaped from the lead group with to cover and held an advantage of 18 seconds at the bottom of the final climb, the Cauberg. He was passed in the final meters, but managed to hold on for fourth.