Rein Taaramäe

Rein Taaramäe
Personal information
Taaramäe at the 2012 Critérium du Dauphiné
Full name	Rein Taaramäe
Nickname	Vader (from "reinuvader" – a Fox)
Born	(1987-04-24) April 24, 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	Astana
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	GC rider
Amateur team(s)
2007	Cofidis (stagiaire)
Professional team(s)
2008–2014	Cofidis
2015–	Astana
Major wins
Grand Tours Vuelta a España 1 individual stage (2011) Stage races Tour de l'Ain (2009) Paris–Nice Young rider classification (2011) Critérium International Young rider classification (2011) Single-day races and Classics National Road Race Championships (2009, 2013) National Time Trial Championships (2009, 2011, 2012)
Infobox last updated on 5 May 2014

Rein Taaramäe (born April 24, 1987 in Tartu) is an Estonian road bicycle racer for UCI ProTeam cycling team Astana.

Career

Taaramäe at the 2009 Tour de l'Ain

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 Grand Prix du Portugal and a stage of Tour de l'Avenir. At the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, 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 national road race and time trial championships.^[2] He also won Tour de l'Ain after winning the last stage to Col du Grand Colombier.^[3] In 2010 he finished seventh at the Paris-Nice and third at the Volta a Catalunya.

In 2011, Rein finished 11th overall in the 2011 Tour de France. On Stage 14 of the 2011 Vuelta a España Taaramae and breakaway companion David de la Fuente were the last two riders of a 17 man breakaway, but with 2 km to go de la Fuente dropped back to pace teammate Juan José Cobo up the climb allowing Taaramae to solo to his first ever Grand Tour stage win. He ultimately withdrew from the race prior to its conclusion in Madrid.

In August 2014 Astana Pro Team general manager Alexandre Vinokourov announced that Taaramäe had signed a one year contract with the team for the 2015 season.^[4]