Cofidis's Rein Taaramae (image courtesy of Rein Taaramae)

Rein Taaramae is 25 years old today. Palju õnne 25. sünnipäeva

Rein’s another rider I see regularly training on the Cote d’Azur roads. Sadly, having broken his left elbow in a fall at last weekend’s Vuelta a Castilla y Leon, he’s confined to the home trainer and won’t be back on those roads for a couple of weeks.

This latest injury will be a bitter blow following close on the heels of his mononucleosis infection (glandular fever), the first symptoms of which appeared a few days before Paris-Nice, a race in which he finished fourth and won the best young rider jersey last year. But this year the young Estonian was nowhere to be seen, even though he had finished second behind Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) at the Ruta del Sol just a few days earlier. Continue reading →