Piva: Motivation is the key word for Vuelta a España leader Taaramäe

Vuelta Espana 2021 - 76th Edition - 4th stage El Burgo de Osma - Molina de Aragon 163,9 km - 17/08/2021 - Crash - Rein Taaramae (EST - Intermarche' - Wanty - Gobert Materiaux) - photo Luis Angel Gomez/BettiniPhoto©2021
Kevin Van Melsen stops to aid Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux teammate and GC leader Rein Taaramäe before they finish stage 4 (Image credit: Bettini Photo)

Rein Taaramäe (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux) endured a late scare on stage 4 of the Vuelta a España when he crashed a little over two kilometres from the finish in Molina de Aragon, but the red jersey is his for another day at least. After taking a seat in his press conference afterwards, the Estonian explained that he aims to hold the garment for two more stages, at least until the rugged run to Balón de Alicante on Friday.

“My dream is to keep this jersey until the Alicante stage, so I have to do tomorrow and the day after tomorrow,” Taaramäe smiled. “I don’t know how the weather is tomorrow, I don’t know if there’s wind or not. After tomorrow there’s the uphill finish [at Alto de Cullera], so I will have to be really good to keep the jersey there because [Primož] Roglič is close and there are bonus seconds.”

Barry Ryan
Head of Features

Barry Ryan is Head of Features at Cyclingnews. He has covered professional cycling since 2010, reporting from the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and events from Argentina to Japan. His writing has appeared in The Independent, Procycling and Cycling Plus. He is the author of The Ascent: Sean Kelly, Stephen Roche and the Rise of Irish Cycling’s Golden Generation, published by Gill Books.