Taaramae reclaimed some of the promise of his early career, with a fine showing on the fearsomely steep slopes of Picon Blanco, the Estonian riding away from a well-credentialed group of climbers on the final climb and claiming the stage win on the 202 kilometre course.
In doing so, Taaramae claimed the leader's jersey from Primož Roglič, whose Jumbo-Visma team seemed happy to let the race lead be taken from their hands at this stage of the Vuelta.
"Yesterday evening we said that we'd try to win the stage and take the leader's jersey,” Taaramae said. “I have quite good state [form] and I have a very smart sporting director in Valerio Piva. I believed in myself today.
"It was all about whether the peloton would catch us or not. When I saw that we would do it, then I had questions about how good Joe Dombrowski and Kenny Elissonde were. They are all good riders so I didn't know if I could beat them, but I believed it because I already did it many times.
"When I won a stage of the Giro, Joe was in third up there with me and now we were fighting against each other. So I believed in myself very much today.”
Taaramae, 34, hasn't taken any wins since 2016, barring Estonian national titles, and the former general classification hopeful has battled illness in recent years, but emerged with a career win in Stage 3 of the Vuelta.
“It's a big deal because I'm 34 years old and I don't have many years left to try to do this,” he said.
“I have a stage in the Vuelta and Giro but I’ve dreamt a lot about a leader's jersey in a Grand Tour, at least for some days to enjoy and feel how it's going to be. Today I did it and I'm very, very happy.”
The early breakaway formed relatively easily early in the stage, with Antonio Jesus Soto (Euskaltel-Euskadi) attacking and Joe Dombrowski (UAE Team Emirates), Lilian Calmejane (AG2R Citroen), Kenny Elissonde (Trek-Segafredo), Taaramäe, Tobias Bayer (Alpecin-Fenix), Julen Amezqueta (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and Jetse Bol (Burgos-BH) joined him to create the move of the stage.
Jumbo-Visma settled in to control the peloton on behalf of race leader Roglič, but it was apparent that their pace-making was more about ensuring that the break didn't get out to a massive lead rather than trying to catch the move.
A relatively sedate day in the saddle for the break and peloton continued from there, as the heat and steady headwind dissuaded any attacks from the peloton on the hilly lead-in to Picon Blanco.
The peloton was at eight and a half minutes behind the breakaway with 40 kilometres left to race, as the climbs started.
The breakaway began to split up on the third-category Puerto de Bocos, Bayer was first to the top but Calmejane went on the attack alone over the top, as the peloton rode the climb at pace and reduced the gap to just four minutes.
The Frenchman tried to open a gap on his better climbing rivals in the break but his lead was held at just 15 seconds at the foot of the Picón Blanco. He was caught as the gradient hit double figures in the second kilometre of the 7.6km climb, with the top climbers of the group coming to the fore.
The peloton was all together at the base of the climb three minutes and 30 seconds behind the front of the race, as the team leaders prepared for the first big mountain finish shake-up of the 2021 Vuelta.
Dombrowski upped the pace to test his breakaway rivals. Bol and then Amezqueta were the first to be distanced, while Elissonde and Taaramäe hung on to the American. The rest were then dropped as the trio pushed away to battle for the stage win.
In the peloton Bahrain Victorious were the first to break the status quo with four kilometres to go, upping the pace for Landa. However, they soon backed off when the Basque leader looked to be struggling to hold the tempo.
Amongst the overall contenders, with a head-wind on key parts of the climb, it was really about avoiding losing time rather than taking risks to gain some. However, the solid pace cracked Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma), with 50 or so riders still in the peloton. Soon after, pre-race favourite Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) was also at the back, also quickly distanced.
Up front, Taaramäe gradually managed to grind his way clear of Dombrowski and Elissonde slowly to carve out his winning and race leadership margin. He won the stage by 21 seconds, and now holds a 25 second lead on the general classification to Dombrowski, with Roglič staying close to the top, in third 30 seconds behind the new race leader.
The general classification group accelerated in the final kilometre, with Hugh Carthy (EF Education-Nippo), Romain Bardet (Team DSM) and Alexsandr Vlasov (PremierTech Astana) dropped and losing valuable seconds on their rivals. Carthy lost 21 seconds, while Vlasov and Bardet lost 29 seconds, while Carapaz conceded a minute and Kuss nearly two.
The Vuelta a España continues tonight with Stage 4, a 163.9km mostly flat stage with an uphill kick to the finish line from El Burgo de Osma to Molina de Aragón. Watch the race on SBS VICELAND and SBS OnDemand from 2300 AEST live and free, with the coverage on the SKODA Tour Tracker starting from the slightly earlier time of 2250 AEST.
