Rein Taaramäe motivated for Tour of Oman after signing new contract: "I became myself again"

After having just signed a new contract at the age of 34, the Estonian Rein Taaramäe feels fresh and ready to tackle a new season after rediscovering himself with the Intermarché - Wanty - Gobert Matériaux team.

Thanks to Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux and its passionate staff, I became myself again. Five years after my last Grand Tour stage win, I managed to repeat this performance in 2021," Taaramäe said before his presence in the middle eastern race.

After a few years without the results he had hoped for in his career, last year in the Vuelta a España broke the headlines once again by taking a stage win, five years after his last non-national championship race at the Tour of Slovenia: "In sports, each aspect has to be perfect to be able to keep performing year after year. Concerning myself, the support of the direction was key in overcoming my career slump. I gained confidence thanks to the long term plan of Aike Visbeek, and under the direction of Valerio Piva I became a Grand Tour leader for the first time in my career, at the age of 34."

"I want to continue chasing succes in 2022 and win races. It doesn’t matter which ones, as each victory is big on this level. I also want to perform in support of Louis Meintjes and play a role in the development of young talents such as Kobe Goossens. I expect to be ready for the start of the season, as I feel better as twelve months ago. I just finished three weeks of altitude camp in Rwanda, where I managed to execute all training plans. The battle for the general classification in the Tour of Oman is a nice first challenge."

The Tour of Oman starts tomorrow and Intermarché are having Taaramäe and Jan Hirt co-leading the team's overall ambitions, being supported by a mix of very experienced riders and also young signings.