Vuelta a España stage 3: Rein Taaramäe takes first mountain stage of 2021 Spanish tour

Rein Taaramäe (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Materiaux) won stage 3 of the 2021 Vuelta a España and also took over the lead of the general classification.

“I have good form, and above all, I have a very good sports director [Valerio Piva]. We spoke yesterday [Sunday] night, we thought that this could be a good time to try something,” Taaramäe said. “Yesterday evening we spoke and we said we would try to win the stage and try to take leader’s jersey.”

“We knew it was ok mostly depend on the response of the peloton,” Taaramäe continued. “But I believed it, because [to make a solo win] I have already done this a few times. I believed in myself.”

American Joe Dombrowski (UAE-Team Emirates) rode into second place on the stage, some 21 seconds behind the stage winner.

Taaramäe has gone a decade between Vuelta stage wins, and to take the win and the overall is a significant achievement for him and his team.

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How it happened

An Eight man break of Taaramäe, Joe Dombrowski (UAE -Team Emirates), Kenny Elissonde (Trek-Segafredo), Antonio Jesus Soto (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Jetse Bol (Burgos-BH), Lilian Calmejane (AG2R-Citroën), Tobias Bayer (Alpecin-Fenix), and Julen Amezqueta (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) had 7:15 advantage with 100km to go.

Riding tempo on the front, the eight grew the gap to nine minutes over the following 40 kilometers, and by 40km to go the advantage remained at 8:30.

Behind them, the peloton lead by Sepp Kuss (Jumbo Visma) and was shadowed by recently crowned Olympic road race champion Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers).

As the peloton approached 30km to go the pace slowed in anticipation of the final climb at 8km from the finish. This temporary slowdown gave Enric Mas (Movistar Team) an opportunity for a bike change.

Between 25km and 20km to go, the gap between the peloton and breakaway went down to five minutes.

Calmejane attacked at 14.5km to go — his second attempt to solo from the front — and the seven others in the break were single-file chasing after him.

A crash in the chasing peloton slowed a few Qhubeka-Assos, Alpecin-Fenix, and Israel Start-Up Nation riders, who were quickly back on their bikes and chasing after the main bunch. The news of this minor tumble was radioed through the peloton, and the breakaway lifted the pace to try to capitalize on the minor confusion behind them.

Calmejane was 12 seconds off the front of the remains of the break, as the race headed into the final climb at 8km to go.

Taaramäe lead the pursuit to bring Calmejane back, while the main bunch with the GC favorites was just three minutes behind.

Dombroski looked to be struggling and dropped from the chase, but he recovered and clawed back into the group.

Elissonde went to the front to try to push the pace on the climb, but Taaramäe marked him and the others followed.

Calmejane again went to the front at 5km to go, and Elissonde, Dombrowski, and Taaramäe covered his attempt at an attack.

But the aggression Calmejane displayed took its toll, and he was popped from the front of the race, lead by Elissonde, Dombrowski, and Taaramäe at 4km to go.

Jumbo Visma struggles

Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma), in the polka dot jersey, struggled with the pace of the pursuit and dropped from the chase group leaving team captain Primož Roglič the only Jumbo-Visma rider at the front, while David de la Cruz (UAE Team Emirates) lead the charge into the final 4km.

Adam Yates (Ineos Grenadiers) went after de la Cruz to take the pressure off teammates Richard Carapaz — who appeared to struggle on the climb — and Egan Bernal.

Taaramäe went on the attack and Dombrowski went after him, while Elissonde appeared to struggle as the race went into the final 1.5km.

As the 34-year-old Estonian rider won his first Vuelta stage in 10 years, the shake-ups in the GC started to play out.

Danny Navarro (Burgis BH) attacked the chase group and brought along Yates and de la Cruz before Alejandro Valverde, Enric Mas, Miguel Ángel López (Movistar Team), and Roglič chased to limit time gaps on the stage.

Mas attacked the final 50m, but the other GC favorites went with him, save for Hugh Carthy (EF Education-Nippo) and Carapaz who both lost time.

What’s to come

Stage 4 from El Burgo de Osma to Molina de Aragón is another day for the sprinters, giving the GC riders and climbing specialists some respite. However, should a breakaway attempt to escape, look for Jumbo-Visma and Ineos Grenadiers to try to limit time gaps.