Astana continues the process of building a strong team of climbers around Vincenzo Nibali and Fabio Aru. Today the team has announced the signing of Rein Taaramae who will move from a leadership role on the Cofidis team to a domestique position on the Kazakh team.

A few weeks ago, Astana announced the signing of three climbers Luis Leon Sanchez, Diego Rosa and Davide Malacarne who are all set to play a key role in future grand tours. Today the team can prensent another addition to the roster that will be of crucial importance in the mountains.

The Kazakhs have signed a one-year contract with Rein Taaramae who will leave Cofidis where he has been riding his entire career. The Estonian has been one of the leaders in his previous team but will now move into a support role.

Once regarded as one of the biggest stage racing talents, Taaramae scored several top 10 results in WorldTour stage races at a very young age but an illness has hampered him in the last couple of years. In March the cause for his travails were finally identified and he underwent an operation.

Taaramae returned with a bang when he won the queen stage of the Tour of Turkey which indicated that he was about to find back to his previous level. Since then, however, things haven't gone according to plan and he had a veru disappointing Tour de France.

Nonetheless, Astana believe that they can bring the Estonian back to his former level.

“We are happy to sign Rein Taaramae to a one-year contract for 2015," manager Alexander Vinokourov said. “The Estonian climber is a strong addition to our squad and we hope that with Astana Pro Team he finds a place to show his maximum potential, where he can assist both Vincenzo Nibali and Fabio Aru in the mountains, just like his friend and countryman Tanel Kangert."

Taaramae becomes the fifth new rider to sign for the 2015 season. In addition to Sanchez, Rosa and Malacarne, Lars Boom has signed a contract with the Kazakh team.