After just one year with Astana Pro Team, Rein Taaramae has joined Katusha. The Estonian rider is currently training with his new teammates in Calpe, Spain. According to his staff, he will co-lead the Russian team at the first three-week race alongside Ilnur Zakarin. He also hopes  to be present for Joaquim Rodriguez at the Tour de France.

Taaramae wore the Cofidis jersey for several seasons. In an interview with Cyclingnews, he describes the differences between this French team and the international teams. "There was a different mentality on the French team. The French are like revolutionists, and everyone follows the rules. Whether you are a team leader or not a team leader, everyone on that team was considered to be on the same level", he explained. "Astana had many nationalities; they spoke English, and the team leaders were Fabio Aru and Vincenzo Nibali, and the riders were there to support them. It was completely different than Cofidis, which never really put riders around one team leader.

"I liked Astana because the team was very, very strong. There were team leaders and everyone else knew what they had to do. It made racing much more easy; to stay in the front and do your job, everyone protected one rider, and it was much more easy to ride like that", he added. "Cofidis is also a very, very good team with good organisation. In France life, there is always very good structure, and it was the same with the team. Astana was certainly a really big organisation, but the truth is that Cofidis had an even better organisation than Astana."

In 2016, Taaramae will have the Giro as his main goal. "I will do the Giro this year. I've never done that race before because during the last seven years I've always done the Tour de France. For me, it is time to change because you can't do the same program every year, it's not fun", he said with a lot of confidence. "I won't be the only team leader at the Giro d'Italia. I will share that role with Ilnur Zakarin. At that race, we will take it day-by-day and see how it happens."

He has studied the route. "I like the parcours because there are many sprints this year, which means that it is a bit lighter. It starts in the Netherlands, and I'm not a 60kg-rider, I'm pretty tall, and there are three time trials, which is also good for me. I've already been top 10 in the Tour de France time trials three times, so I hope I can do well in those too. I need to improve my climbing a little bit, and I will then try to do my best."