Rein Taaramäe
 Taaramäe at the 2012 Critérium du Dauphiné | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Rein Taaramäe |
| Nickname | Vader (from "Reinuvader Rebane" – a literary fox), Taarakas |
| Born | 24 April 1987 Tartu, Estonia |
| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)[1] |
| Weight | 67 kg (148 lb; 10.6 st)[1] |
| Team information | |
| Current team | Intermarché–Wanty |
| Discipline | Road |
| Role | Rider |
| Amateur teams | |
| 2006–2007 | Roue d'or Saint-Amandoise |
| 2007 | Cofidis (stagiaire) |
| Professional teams | |
| 2008–2014 | Cofidis |
| 2015 | Astana |
| 2016–2017 | Team Katusha |
| 2018–2020 | Direct Énergie[2][3] |
| 2021– | Intermarché–Wanty–Gobert Matériaux |
| Major wins | |
Grand Tours
| |
Rein Taaramäe (born 24 April 1987) is an Estonian professional road racing cyclist, who rides for UCI WorldTeam Intermarché–Wanty.[4][5]
Career
[edit]Cofidis (2008–14)
[edit]Taaramäe turned professional in 2008 for Cofidis after riding for the team as a stagiaire in late 2007 and winning a stage at the Circuit des Ardennes early in the season. In 2008 he won two stages of the Grand Prix du Portugal and a stage of the Tour de l'Avenir. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Taaramäe competed in the road race and the road time trial.
In 2009 he finished third at the Tour de Romandie and eighth at the Tour de Suisse. Taaramäe won both the Estonian National Road Race Championships and the Estonian National Time Trial Championships.[6] He also won the Tour de l'Ain after winning the last stage to Col du Grand Colombier.[7] In 2010 he finished seventh at the Paris-Nice and third at the Volta a Catalunya.
In 2011, Taaramäe finished 11th overall in the Tour de France. On Stage 14 of the Vuelta a España Taaramae and breakaway companion David de la Fuente were the last two riders of a 17-man breakaway, but with 2 kilometres (1.2 miles) to go de la Fuente dropped back to pace teammate Juan José Cobo up the climb allowing Taaramäe to solo to his first ever Grand Tour stage win. He ultimately withdrew from the race prior to its conclusion in Madrid.
Astana (2015)
[edit]In August 2014 Astana general manager Alexander Vinokourov announced that Taaramäe had signed a one-year contract with the team for the 2015 season.[8]
2015 began well for Taaramäe with the victory at the Vuelta a Murcia. Hopes were high with Grand Tours in mind, especially the Tour de France. At the race, Taaramäe was meant to help Vincenzo Nibali in the mountains. Unfortunately Taaramäe was forced to abandon the race during stage 11 due to illness. After the disappointing Tour, Taaramäe went on to win in style back-to-back in the Vuelta a Burgos and the Arctic Race of Norway in August.
Team Katusha (2016–17)
[edit]At the end of August 2015, Taaramäe signed an initial one-year deal with Team Katusha. He was named in the start list for the 2016 Giro d'Italia.[9] He won the 20th stage of the race, becoming the first Estonian to win a stage in the Giro.[10] After a short vacation at home in Estonia, Taaramäe went to win the overall at the Tour of Slovenia, together with a stage win on Stage 2.
Direct Énergie (2018–20)
[edit]In his first season with the team, he placed highly at the Vuelta a Aragón (fourth overall; later promoted to third after Jaime Rosón's disqualification) and the Tour de l'Ain (third overall), before being selected for the Tour de France for the first time since 2015. He formed part of the breakaway on the tenth stage, ultimately finishing third – his team's best stage finish of the race[11] – behind Julian Alaphilippe and Ion Izagirre. He finished outside the time limit two days later, ending his race. In September, Taaramäe took four top-four results – second-place finishes at the Coppa Ugo Agostoni and the Tour du Gévaudan Occitanie,[12][13] third at the Tour du Doubs,[14] and fourth at the Famenne Ardenne Classic.
The following year, he finished second overall at the Tour du Rwanda; he had finished second on the third stage behind Merhawi Kudus,[15] and maintained this position for the remainder of the race.[16] He finished third overall at both the Vuelta a Aragón and Tour de l'Ain, and added a further third-place finish at the inaugural Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge.[17] Later in June, he won his fourth Estonian National Time Trial Championships, his first win in the race since 2012.
In 2020, Taaramäe won the mountains classification at the Tour du Rwanda, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic-enforced suspension of racing.
Intermarché–Wanty–Gobert Matériaux (2021–present)
[edit]In September 2020, Taaramäe signed a two-year contract to ride with the Circus–Wanty Gobert team, later renamed Intermarché–Wanty–Gobert Matériaux, from the 2021 season.[18]
He was involved in breakaways at Paris–Nice,[19] the Volta a Catalunya,[20] the Tour de Romandie,[21] and the Giro d'Italia; at the Giro d'Italia,[19] he recorded a ninth-place finish on stage four, having just remained clear of a group containing some of the race favourites. He won the Estonian National Time Trial Championships for the fifth time in June, and then finished third overall at the Czech Cycling Tour,[19] with two third-place stage finishes. At the Vuelta a España, Taaramäe made an eight-man breakaway on the third stage of the race.[22] With around 3 kilometres (1.9 miles) remaining of the stage, which concluded with a summit finish at Picón Blanco,[19] Taaramäe attacked and soloed to the stage victory. He also assumed the lead of both the mountains and general classifications, becoming the second Estonian rider to lead a Grand Tour, after Jaan Kirsipuu at the 1999 Tour de France.[23] He held the race lead until the fifth stage after a crash,[24] and also rode in support of teammate Odd Christian Eiking, when he held the overall lead later in the race. Taaramäe later signed a one-year contract extension with the team, until the end of the 2023 season.[25]
After an eighth-place finish at the 2022 Tour of Oman, Taaramäe made the breakaway on the fourth stage of the Giro d'Italia, finishing third on the stage.[26] He remained third overall for several days, before losing nearly fifteen minutes on the ninth stage, a summit finish at Blockhaus in the Maiella massif. He worked as a domestique for climbers Jan Hirt and Domenico Pozzovivo later in the race,[27] with both finishing inside the top-ten placings in the general classification. He again won the Estonian National Time Trial Championships, and took a further third-place Grand Tour stage finish, on stage eight of the Vuelta a España.[28]
He started his 2023 season in Oman, recording a fourth-place overall finish at the Tour of Oman, having been dropped on the final climb to Jebel Akhdar.[29]
Personal life
[edit]He is married to Hanna; at the 2022 Estonian National Time Trial Championships, both won their respective national titles.[30]
Major results
[edit]Source: [31]
- 2005
- 3rd Overall Course de la Paix Juniors
- 2006
- 1st
Time trial, National Under-23 Road Championships
- 1st GP Ouest–France Espoirs
- 1st Stage 1 Kreiz Breizh Elites
- 2007
- 2nd
Time trial, UEC European Under-23 Road Championships
- 2nd Time trial, National Road Championships
- 2nd Les Boucles du Sud-Ardèche
- 3rd Overall Kreiz Breizh Elites
- 3rd Paris–Troyes
- 5th Overall Circuit des Ardennes
- 1st Stage 4
- 5th Boucle de l'Artois
- 2008
- 1st Stage 6 (ITT) Tour de l'Avenir
- 3rd Overall Grand Prix du Portugal
- 1st Stages 2 & 3
- 8th Overall Circuit de la Sarthe
- 9th Tartu GP
- 2009
- National Road Championships
- 1st
- 1st
- 1st
- 1st
Overall Tour de l'Ain
- 1st Stage 5
- 1st
Mountains classification, Tour of the Basque Country
- 3rd Overall Tour de Romandie
- 8th Overall Tour de Suisse
- 2010
- 3rd Overall Volta a Catalunya
- 7th Overall Paris–Nice
- 9th Overall Route du Sud
- 9th Trofeo Inca
- 2011
- 1st
- 1st Stage 14 Vuelta a España
- 3rd Overall Critérium International
- 1st
Young rider classification
- 1st
- 4th Overall Paris–Nice
- 1st
- 1st
- 5th Tartu GP
- 8th Overall Volta ao Algarve
- 10th Overall Circuit Cycliste Sarthe
- 2012
- National Road Championships
- 1st
- 3rd Road race
- 1st
- 2nd Overall Vuelta a Andalucía
- 3rd Overall Étoile de Bessèges
- 6th Tallinn–Tartu GP
- 8th Overall Tour du Poitou-Charentes
- 2013
- National Road Championships
- 1st
- 2nd Time trial
- 1st
- 3rd Cholet-Pays de Loire
- 2014
- 1st Tour du Doubs
- 2nd Overall Tour of Turkey
- 1st Stage 3
- 6th Overall Tour du Limousin
- 8th Overall Étoile de Bessèges
- 2015
- 1st
Overall Vuelta a Burgos
- 1st Stage 2 (TTT)
- 1st
Overall Arctic Race of Norway
- 1st Vuelta a Murcia
- 2nd Road race, National Road Championships
- 6th Overall Volta ao Algarve
- 2016
- 1st
Overall Tour of Slovenia
- 1st Stage 2
- 1st Stage 20 Giro d'Italia
- 2017
- 3rd Road race, National Road Championships
- 9th Overall Tour of Guangxi
- 2018
- 2nd Coppa Ugo Agostoni
- 2nd Tour du Gévaudan Occitanie
- 3rd Overall Vuelta a Aragón
- 3rd Overall Tour de l'Ain
- 3rd Tour du Doubs
- 4th Famenne Ardenne Classic
- 2019
- 1st
- 2nd Overall Tour du Rwanda
- 3rd Overall Tour de l'Ain
- 3rd Overall Vuelta a Aragón
- 3rd Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge
- 2020
- 1st
Mountains classification, Tour du Rwanda
- 2021
- 1st
- Vuelta a España
- 1st Stage 3
- Held
- Held
after Stages 3–6
- 3rd Overall Czech Cycling Tour
- 2022
- 1st
- 8th Overall Tour of Oman
- 2023
- 1st
- 4th Overall Tour of Oman
- 2024
- 1st
Grand Tour general classification results timeline
[edit]| Grand Tour | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Giro d'Italia
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | 29 | — | — | — | — | 51 | 46 | DNF | — |
 Tour de France
|
— | DNF | 11 | 36 | 102 | 88 | DNF | — | — | DNF | 66 | — | — | — | — | — |
 Vuelta a España
|
74 | — | DNF | — | — | — | — | DNF | 147 | — | — | — | 55 | — | DNF | DNF |
| — | Did not compete |
|---|---|
| DNF | Did not finish |
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Rein Taaramäe profile". Archived from the original on 2013-12-27. Retrieved 2013-12-27.
- ^ "Direct Énergie". Directvelo (in French). Association Le Peloton. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
- ^ "Total Direct Énergie". UCI.org. Union Cycliste Internationale. Archived from the original on 12 January 2020. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
- ^ "Intermarché – Wanty – Gobert Matériaux". UCI.org. Union Cycliste Internationale. Archived from the original on 3 January 2021. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
- ^ "Rein Taaramäe vahetab klubi" [Rein Taaramäe changes team]. Delfi (in Estonian). Ekspress Meedia. 14 August 2020. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
- ^ Greg Johnson (28 July 2009). "Taaramae takes road title too". Cycling News. Retrieved 23 July 2011.
- ^ "Cofidis sweeps Horner aside". Cycling News. 12 August 2009. Retrieved 23 July 2011.
- ^ "Taaramae signs one-year deal with Astana". cyclingnews.com. 20 August 2014. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
- ^ "99th Giro d'Italia Startlist". Pro Cycling Stats. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
- ^ "Sensational Nibali all but wins the Giro d'Italia as Taaramae takes stage 20". Eurosport. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
- ^ Puddicombe, Stephen (30 July 2018). "Tour de France 2018 ratings: How did each team perform?". Cycling Weekly. TI Media. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
[...] while Rein Taaramäe's third place on stage 10 was the team's highest finish.
- ^ "Moscon strikes back with Coppa Agostoni victory". Cyclingnews.com. Immediate Media Company. 15 September 2018. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
- ^ Bruno, Robin (23 September 2018). "Tour du Gévaudan : Classement" [Tour du Gévaudan: Classification]. Directvelo (in French). Association Le Peloton. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
- ^ Gachet, Nicolas (9 September 2018). "Tour du Doubs : Classement" [Tour du Doubs: Classification]. Directvelo (in French). Association Le Peloton. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
- ^ "Kudus claims back-to-back stages in Tour du Rwanda". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. 26 February 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
- ^ "Kudus wins 2019 Tour du Rwanda". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. 4 March 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
- ^ Fletcher, Patrick (17 June 2019). "Jesus Herrada wins Mont Ventoux Denivele Challenges". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
- ^ "Rein Taaramae première recrue de Circus-Wanty Gobert" [Rein Taaramae first recruit of Circus-Wanty Gobert]. RTBF (in French). Belga. 7 September 2020. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
- ^ a b c d "Rein Taaramäe ends remarkable 2021 season in Les Herbiers". Intermarché–Wanty–Gobert Matériaux. Continuum Sports Belgium. 17 October 2021. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
- ^ Bonville-Ginn, Tim (22 March 2021). "Andreas Kron takes the opening stage of Volta a Catalunya 2021 as late break makes it". Cycling Weekly. Future plc. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
- ^ Foley, Marcus (29 April 2021). "Tour de Romandie 2021 - Sonny Colbrelli sprints to Stage 2 win, Rohan Dennis remains in yellow". Eurosport. Discovery, Inc. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
- ^ "Rein Taaramae completes shock Vuelta a España stage win with late burst". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Reuters. 16 August 2021. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
- ^ Lowe, Felix (16 August 2021). "Vuelta a Espana 2021 - Veteran Rein Taaramae wins Stage 3 on Picon Blanco to take red jersey". Eurosport. Discovery, Inc. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
- ^ Ostanek, Daniel (18 August 2021). "Vuelta a España: Jasper Philipsen wins crash-marred stage 5". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
- ^ "New contract for Rein Taaramäe, who starts his season in Oman". Intermarché–Wanty–Gobert Matériaux. Continuum Sports Belgium. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
- ^ "Giro d'Italia: Juan Pedro López in the pink on Etna as Kämna takes stage". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Associated Press. 10 May 2022. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
- ^ Friend, Luke (24 May 2022). "'The doctors said it would be impossible to come back and race': The story of an incredible journey from hospital to Giro top five". Cycling Weekly. Future plc. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
- ^ Cash, Dane (27 August 2022). "Vuelta a España 2022: Jay Vine climbs to victory on stage 8". Cycling Weekly. Future plc. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
- ^ Farrand, Stephen (15 February 2023). "Matteo Jorgenson secures Tour of Oman victory on Green Mountain". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
- ^ Hansen, Matt (22 June 2022). "This married couple just won both pro men's and women's national championships". Canadian Cycling. Gripped Publishing Inc. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
- ^ "Rein Taaramäe". FirstCycling.com. FirstCycling AS. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
External links
[edit]
- Rein Taaramäe's blog (in Estonian)
- Rein Taaramäe at UCI
- Rein Taaramäe at Cycling Archives (archived)
- Rein Taaramäe at ProCyclingStats
- Palmarès by cyclingbase.com
- Taaramae believes in top 10 placing at Tour de France Cyclingnews.com story in March 2011
- Taaramae comes of age, still makes mistakes Cyclingnews.com story in March 2010
