Mark Padun has spoken out for the first time about the doping suspicions that have followed him since last summer, revealing he has been hurt by the accusations and insisting he has not "come from nowhere".
The Ukrainian rider had a relatively quiet first three years as a professional but burst into life at last summer’s Critérium du Dauphiné, winning back-to-back mountain stages in dominant solo fashion.
The performances aroused immediate suspicion, with French newspaper Le Parisien running anonymous quotes from a rider and a team boss, who spoke of an "absolute disgrace" and a throwback to "the dirty years of the 2000s."
The ensuing suspicions were hardly eased when Padun was left off the Bahrain Victorious squad for the Tour de France - where the team themselves were subjected to a doping raid by French police - and when he was released from his contract a year early.
He has since signed for EF Education-EasyPost, with team boss Jonathan Vaughters addressing the suspicions in an exclusive interview with Cyclingnews, in which he detailed the tests and background checks he had performed on Padun.
Now, Padun himself has spoken out, giving an interview to French newspaper L’Equipe ahead of his 2022 season debut.
"Certain people have written things that are unfounded - ‘this guy is a cheat’, ‘he has come from nowhere’ - but all that is false. Firstly, I’m not a cheat, and in addition, I’ve had results year after year," Padun said.
"It’s very unpleasant, sickening. The joy has been taken out of my victories, even if, a few weeks after the Dauphiné, by speaking to people close to me, I told myself ‘okay, it’s part of the game’."
Padun turned professional with the Bahrain team in 2018, winning a stage of the Tour of the Alps before placing third on a stage of the Vuelta a España, his Grand Tour debut. He then won a stage and the overall of the Adriatica Ionica, plus the Ukrainian time trial title, in 2019, but saw his 2020 campaign derailed by the pandemic, the highlight being second place on a stage of the Giro d’Italia.
Padun also highlighted his results from before he turned pro, pointing to stage wins at the Giro della Regione Friuli, the Giro della Valle d’Aosta, and the U23 Baby Giro d’Italia.
"All these results prove that I haven’t come from nowhere," he told L’Equipe, before repeating a point made by Vaughters - that he has struggled to find consistency and balance his weight.
"For me, it’s difficult to get down to my race weight and maintain it. When I get there, I fly, but keeping that form is a big struggle. You have to push yourself hard, but not too much, which was my error. I put too much stress on my body, I fell ill, I was empty."
Padun remained tight-lipped over his exit from Bahrain-Victorious, saying it was never explained to him why he did not make the Tour squad. That decision was "one of the reasons" he left early. As for the others: "I prefer not to share them."
