Freire's move was like Martin's, but different in that it was a product of cheeky class. He didn't HAVE to do it; he was the fastest in that group.
In hindsight, yes he was - but no one knew it at that point, it was one of his first wins, in fact, before that he'd only won a single stage of Vuelta a Castilla, and that two years previously.
So, he deserved the sobriquet later in his career, but at that point he either wasn't super fast, or he'd managed to go two whole years as a pro with one win and a 3rd place.
He was a capital R "racer" for sure, didn't need a power meter, didn't train a ton of miles, but knew how to WIN. He knew that day, just watched those highlights earlier today in fact!