The seven times winner of the national time trial championship in Estonia, Rein Taaramäe, also won the bronze medal in the road race of the Baltic Championship, a race in which all riders from Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia race for their national titles. The climber was present in the breakaway all day this Sunday and finished as third rider from Estonia. His teammate Madis Mihkels won the sprint for fifth place in the first chasing group.
"I was very well prepared for the time trial with the Critérium du Dauphiné in the legs and then taking some time to do specific training sessions on the time trial bike. I also received a lot of support of the team with my equipment, for example to study the optimal pressure of my Continental GP5000 TT tires. I had good legs and managed to win my seventh title with an advantage of 2 minutes." "The road race of the Baltic championships is always a very open race because not one team has a numerical superiority and we race for three different titles. Madis and I established a plan because we really wanted him to win the title. Usually there is an early breakaway. We wanted to make it difficult for the other sprinters, so I joined the group. The rhythm was very high, everyone was tired in the final. In the leading group we averaged 47 kilometer per hour. That's why the peloton never managed to come back. It is a pity that our plan didn't work out but I'm happy that I offered the team a second medal."
