Rein Taaramäe (born April 24, 1987) is an Estonian road bicycle racer, who currently rides for

UCI WorldTeam A UCI WorldTeam (2015–present), previously UCI ProTeam (2005–2014), is the term used by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to name a cycling team of the highest category in professional road cycling, the UCI World Tour or UCI ProTour ...

Career

Cofidis (2008–14)

Taaramäe turned professional in 2008 for 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 Tour de l'Avenir ( en, Tour of the Future) is a French road bicycle racing stage race, which started in 1961 as a race similar to the Tour de France and over much of the same course but for amateurs and for semi-professionals known as independen ...

. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Taaramäe competed in the road race and the road time trial. Tour de l'Ain 2009 - étape 4 - Rein Taaramae

In 2009 he finished third at the

Tour de Romandie The Tour de Romandie is a stage race which is part of the UCI World Tour. It runs through the Romandie region, or French-speaking part of Switzerland. The competition began in 1947, to coincide with the 50-year anniversary of Swiss Cycling. It ...

and eighth at the

Tour de Suisse The Tour de Suisse ( en, Tour of Switzerland) is an annual road cycling stage race. Raced over eight days, the event covers two weekends in June, and along with the Critérium du Dauphiné, it is considered a proving ground for the Tour de France ...

. Taaramäe won both the

Estonian National Road Race Championships The Estonian National Road Race Championship is a road bicycle race that takes place inside the Estonian National Cycling Championship, and decides the best cyclist in this type of race. The first edition took place in 1994, and was won by Andr ...

and the Estonian National Time Trial Championships. He also won the

Tour de l'Ain Tour de l'Ain, also known as the Prix de l'Amitié, is an annual professional road bicycle racing, cycling stage race held in eastern France. G.P. de l'Amitié The first edition of the race was in 1970, as the G.P. de l'Amitié (Friendship G.P.) ...

after winning the last stage to Col du Grand Colombier. In 2010 he finished seventh at the Paris-Nice and third at the

Volta a Catalunya The Volta a Catalunya (; en, Tour of Catalonia, es, Vuelta a Cataluña, link=no) is a road bicycle race held annually in Catalonia, Spain. It is one of three World Tour stage races in Spain, together with the Vuelta a España and the Tour of ...

. In 2011, Taaramäe finished 11th overall in the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

. On Stage 14 of the

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; en, Tour of Spain) is an annual multi-stage bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, the ...

Taaramae and breakaway companion David de la Fuente were the last two riders of a 17-man breakaway, but with 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)

In August 2014 general manager Alexander Vinokourov announced that Taaramäe had signed a one-year contract with the team for the 2015 season. 2015 began well for Taaramäe with the victory at the

Vuelta a Murcia The Vuelta Ciclista a Murcia ( en, Tour of Murcia) is a road bicycle race held in and around Murcia, Spain. The first four editions were reserved to amateurs. Originally the race was held in early March and consisted of five stages. However, d ...

. Hopes were high with Grand Tours in mind, especially the

. At the race, Taaramäe was meant to help

Vincenzo Nibali ), The Nibbler , birth_date = , birth_place = Messina, Sicily, Italy , height = , weight = , currentteam = , discipline = Road , role = Rider , ridertype = Climber , proyears1 = 2005 , proteam1 = , proyears2 = 2006–2012 , protea ...

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 Vuelta Ciclista a Burgos is an elite professional road bicycle racing event held annually in the Burgos province of Spain. The men's Vuelta a Burgos has been a multi-day stage race as part of the UCI Europe Tour since 2005. In 2019, a multi-day ...

and the Arctic Race of Norway in August.

Team Katusha (2016–17)

At the end of August 2015, Taaramäe signed an initial one-year deal with . He was named in the start list for the

2016 Giro d'Italia The 2016 Giro d'Italia was the 99th edition of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tour races. The Giro started in Apeldoorn on 6 May with a individual time trial, followed by two other stages in the Netherlands, both between Nijmegen an ...

. He won the 20th stage of the race, becoming the first Estonian to win a stage in the Giro. After a short vacation at home in Estonia, Taaramäe went to win the overall at the

Tour of Slovenia Tour of Slovenia is a stage race cycling race held in Slovenia. Between 2005 and 2018, it was organised as a 2.1 race on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing Road bicycle racing is the cycle spor ...

, together with a stage win on Stage 2.

Direct Ènergie (2018–2020)

During the

2018 Tour de France The 2018 Tour de France was the 105th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's three Grand Tours. The -long race consisted of 21 stages, starting on 7 July in Noirmoutier-en-l'Île, in western France, and concluding on 29 July with the ...

he had the opportunity to win stage 10, which would have given him a victory in all three grand tours. This was a very competitive stage, the first in the high mountains of that year's edition and there were several dozen riders fighting to get into the breakaway right from kilometer zero. Taaramäe led the race near the end but was eventually caught and dropped by

Julian Alaphilippe Julian Alaphilippe (born 11 June 1992) is a French professional road cyclist, former cyclo-cross racer and two-fold UCI World Road Champion, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . He is the brother of racing cyclist Bryan Alaphilippe. Career E ...

, who used his world class descending skills to steal the victory. Taaramäe suffered dearly for his efforts and finished outside the time cut the following stage. He returned home to Estonia and took a break from cycling. The following year his best place was 2nd overall in the Tour of Rwanda. His team, Direct Ènergie was one of the Pro-Continental level teams that rode this 2.1 Africa Tour event, which they rode again in 2020 where he won the King of the Mountains competition.

Intermarché–Wanty–Gobert Matériaux (2021–Present)

Taaramäe had an opportunity to wear a leader's jersey in a grand tour for the first time in his career during the

2021 Giro d'Italia The 2021 Giro d'Italia was the 104th edition of the Giro, a three-week Grand Tour cycling stage race. It started on 8 May and finished on 30 May. On 26 May 2019, the race organisers RCS Sport originally announced that the start of the 2021 Gi ...

. On stage 4 he was involved in the breakaway and near the end of the stage was one of three riders also fighting for the stage win. Two riders, including eventual stage winner

Joe Dombrowski Joseph Lloyd Dombrowski (born May 12, 1991) is an American professional road racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . A professional since 2011, Dombrowski has also competed for , , and . Personal Born on May 12, 1991, in Christi ...

, eventually caught the trio and dropped them. Taaramäe finished in the top 10 on the stage, his best result in a grand tour in several years. During the

2021 Vuelta a España The 2021 Vuelta a España was a three-week cycling race which took place in Spain between 14 August and 5 September 2021. It was the 76th edition of the Vuelta a España and the third and final grand tour of the 2021 men's road cycling season. T ...

he got involved in the breakaway on stage 3. With 15km to go in the stage, before the start of the final climb he was among the final dozen or so riders fighting for the stage win. Dombrowski launched an attack with about 5km to go which only Kenny Elissonde, who was seeking his first stage victory in eight years, and Taaramäe answered. With 2.8km to go Taaramäe attacked and rode solo to the finish line claiming the victory. With this he also took the Red Jersey as well as the King of the Mountains jersey. He became the first rider from Estonia to ever lead the Vuelta and only the second Estonian rider to lead a grand tour following sprinter

Jaan Kirsipuu Jaan Kirsipuu (born 17 July 1969 in Tartu) is an Estonian former road bicycle racer, who currently works as a directeur sportif for UCI Continental team . He spent the majority of his career riding under the management of Vincent Lavenu, initial ...

, who led the Tour de France in

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

. His team rode at the front of the race defending the leader's jersey for two stages and while he was involved in a crash, it was inside the final 3km of the stage and didn't affect the standings. He described the first day riding in the Red jersey as "beautiful" and would hold onto the mountains jersey for four stages. Later in the race he would ride in support of his teammate Odd Christian Eiking, who took over the leader's jersey in a similar manner following a breakaway on stage 10 putting the team back at the front of the race for several stages. The

2022 Giro d'Italia The 2022 Giro d'Italia was the 105th edition of the Giro d'Italia, a three-week Grand Tour cycling stage race. The race started on 6 May in Budapest, Hungary, and finished on 29 May in Verona, Italy. The race was won by Jai Hindley of , takin ...

made the third straight grand tour he entered where he had a realistic opportunity to wear the general classification jersey early in the race. On stage 4 he was out in the breakaway all day and survived longer than most; but ended up finishing just over +0:30 behind the winner as

Richard Carapaz Richard Antonio Carapaz Montenegro (born 29 May 1993) is an Ecuadorian professional road racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . Carapaz won the 2019 Giro d'Italia, becoming the first Ecuadorian rider to win the race. In July 2021 ...

and the other GC contenders crossed about two minutes beyond him. He eventually fell back in the standings but rode strongly in support of Jan Hirt and

Domenico Pozzovivo Domenico Pozzovivo (born 30 November 1982) is an Italian professional road racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . His very small stature confer him with the qualities of a pure climbing specialist. He is most known for a victor ...

, both of whom finished in the top 10 overall as Intermarché finished 4th as a team.

Major results

;2005 : 3rd Overall Course de la Paix Juniors ;2006 : 1st MaillotEstonia

Time trial In many racing sports, an athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athlete or team sets off at ...

, National Under-23 Road Championships : 1st GP Ouest–France Espoirs : 1st Stage 1

Kreiz Breizh Elites Kreiz Breizh Elites is a French stage cycling race held annually in Bretagne. It is part of the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste In ...

;2007 : 2nd Silver medal europe

Time trial, UEC European Under-23 Road Championships : 2nd

, National Road Championships : 2nd Les Boucles du Sud-Ardèche : 3rd Overall

: 3rd

Paris–Troyes Paris–Troyes is an annual single-day road bicycle race in France between Paris and Troyes. First held in 1959, since 2005 it has been a 1.2 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competiti ...

: 5th Overall Circuit des Ardennes ::1st Stage 4 : 5th

Boucle de l'Artois The Boucle de l'Artois is a road bicycle race held annually in France. It was organized as a 2.2 event on the UCI Europe Tour from 2005 to 2009 and again in 2013. Winners References

UCI Europe Tour races Cycle races in France 1990 establi ...

;2008 : 1st Stage 6 ( ITT)

: 3rd Overall Grand Prix du Portugal ::1st Stages 2 & 3 : 8th Overall

Circuit de la Sarthe The Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans, also known as Circuit de la Sarthe (after the 1906 French Grand Prix triangle circuit) located in Le Mans, Sarthe, France, is a semi-permanent motorsport race course, chiefly known as the venue for the 24 Ho ...

: 9th

Tartu GP The Tartu GP was a one-day road cycling race in Tartu, Estonia. It was first run in 2001 and became part of the UCI Europe Tour as a 1.1 event in 2005. The most successful rider was Jaan Kirsipuu with three consecutive victories. The race was ...

;2009 : National Road Championships ::1st MaillotEstonia

::1st

Road race : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

::1st Stage 5 : 1st Jersey red

Mountains classification,

Tour of the Basque Country The Tour of the Basque Country (Officially: ''Itzulia Basque Country'', es, Vuelta al País Vasco, links=no, eu, Euskal Herriko Itzulia) is an annual road cycling stage race held in the Spanish Basque Country in April. It is one of the races ...

: 3rd Overall

: 8th Overall

;2010 : 3rd Overall

: 7th Overall Paris–Nice : 9th Overall

Route du Sud The Route d'Occitanie is a road bicycle race with 4 stages held annually in Southern France. It was first held in 1977 and since 2005 it has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. It is usually held a week before the Tour de France ...

: 9th Trofeo Inca ;2011 : 1st MaillotEstonia

, National Road Championships : 1st Stage 14

: 3rd Overall

Critérium International The Critérium International was a two-day bicycle stage race held in France every spring from 1932 until 2016, typically the last weekend of March. It was formerly known as the Critérium National de la Route, first run in 1932. For many years ...

::1st

Young rider classification : 4th Overall Paris–Nice ::1st Jersey white

Young rider classification : 5th

: 8th Overall

Volta ao Algarve The Volta ao Algarve (Portuguese; en, Tour of the Algarve) is a road bicycle racing stage race held annually in the Algarve, Portugal. Since 2017, it has been organised as a 2.HC event on the UCI Europe Tour. The race became part of the new UCI ...

: 10th Overall

Circuit Cycliste Sarthe The Circuit de la Sarthe-Pays de la Loire ( en, Circuit of Sarthe) is an early-season short road bicycle racing stage race held annually in Sarthe, Pays de la Loire, France. Since 2005, it has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tou ...

;2012 : National Road Championships ::1st MaillotEstonia

::3rd Road race : 2nd Overall

Vuelta a Andalucía The Vuelta a Andalucía (Tour of Andalusia) or Ruta del Sol (Route of the Sun) is a regional Spanish road bicycle race first held in 1925. Since 2005, it has been a 2.1 category race on the UCI Europe Tour. The race became a part of the new UCI ...

: 3rd Overall

Étoile de Bessèges The Étoile de Bessèges () is an early-season five-day road bicycle racing stage race held annually around Bessèges, in the Gard department of the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France. First organized in 1971 as a one-day race, it became a ...

: 6th

Tallinn–Tartu GP Tallinn–Tartu GP (before 2007, the E.O.S. Tallinn GP) was a single-day road bicycle race held annually in June in Tallinn, Estonia. From 2005 until 2012 the race was organized as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. In 2008, Pro Cycling Club ...

: 8th Overall

Tour du Poitou-Charentes Tour Poitou-Charentes en Nouvelle-Aquitaine is a road bicycle race held annually in the former region of Poitou-Charentes (now Nouvelle-Aquitaine) France. It was first held in 1987 and since 2005 it has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI E ...

;2013 : National Road Championships ::1st MaillotEstonia

Road race ::2nd

: 3rd Cholet-Pays de Loire ;2014 : 1st

Tour du Doubs The Tour du Doubs is a single-day road bicycle race, currently held annually in September in the region of Doubs, France. Since 2005, the race is organized as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road ...

: 2nd Overall

Tour of Turkey The Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey ( tr, Cumhurbaşkanlığı Bisiklet Turu) is a professional road bicycle racing stage race held annually in Turkey since 1963. In 2005 the race became part of the UCI Europe Tour, rated as a 2.2 even ...

::1st Stage 3 : 6th Overall

Tour du Limousin Tour du Limousin is a 4-day road bicycle race held annually in Limousin, France. It was first held in 1968 and since 2005 it has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle raci ...

: 8th Overall

;2015 : 1st Jersey violet

Overall

::1st Stage 2 ( TTT) : 1st Jersey blue

Overall Arctic Race of Norway : 1st

: 2nd Road race, National Road Championships : 6th Overall

;2016 : 1st Jersey green

Overall

::1st Stage 2 : 1st Stage 20 Giro d'Italia ;2017 : 3rd Road race, National Road Championships : 9th Overall

Tour of Guangxi The Tour of Guangxi (officially known as the GREE-Tour of Guangxi for sponsorship purposes) is an annual professional cycling stage race held in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. The race consists of multi-stage and is part of the UC ...

;2018 : 2nd

Coppa Ugo Agostoni The Coppa Ugo Agostoni is a semi classic European bicycle race held in Lissone, Italy. The race is held in memory of Italian cyclist Ugo Agostoni, winner of prestigious classic Milan–San Remo, killed during World War II. It is also called ''Gi ...

: 2nd Tour du Gévaudan Occitanie : 3rd Overall

Vuelta a Aragón Vuelta a Aragón is a professional bicycle road race held in Spain in May of each year. The event was first run in 1939, and was not held between 2006 and 2017. The future of the race is uncertain; there had been plans to organise it again, but an ...

: 3rd Overall

: 3rd

: 4th

Famenne Ardenne Classic The Famenne Ardenne Classic is a one-day professional cycling race held annually in Belgium since 2017. It is part of UCI Europe Tour in category 1.1. It starts and arrives in Marche-en-Famenne Marche-en-Famenne (, literally ''Marche in Famenne ...

;2019 : 1st MaillotEstonia

, National Road Championships : 2nd Overall Tour du Rwanda : 3rd Overall

: 3rd Overall

: 3rd Mont Ventoux Dénivelé Challenge ;2020 : 1st Jersey orange

Mountains classification, Tour du Rwanda ;2021 : 1st MaillotEstonia

, National Road Championships :

::1st Stage 3 ::Held Jersey red

after Stages 3–4 ::Held Jersey blue polkadot

after Stages 3–6 : 3rd Overall

Czech Cycling Tour The Czech Cycling Tour is a multi-day road cycling race held annually in the Olomouc region in the Czech Republic. It was created in 2010 and was initially part of the UCI Europe Tour in category 2.2, but in 2015 moved up to 2.1 The Union Cycl ...

;2022 : 1st MaillotEstonia

, National Road Championships : 8th Overall

Tour of Oman The Tour of Oman is an annual professional road bicycle racing stage race held in Oman since 2010 as part of the UCI Asia Tour. It was scheduled to become part of the new UCI ProSeries in 2020, but both the 2020 and 2021 editions were cancelled ...

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

References

External links

Rein Taaramäe's blog
* *
Palmarès by cyclingbase.comTaaramae 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 {{DEFAULTSORT:Taaramae, Rein 1987 births Living people Sportspeople from Tartu Estonian male cyclists Estonian Vuelta a España stage winners Cyclists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic cyclists of Estonia Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey stage winners Estonian Giro d'Italia stage winners