Mark Padun- Made it Ma, Top of the world

[ice&fire]

Post Olympics as well would not surprise me at all if we had a winner from left field like Padun. Could be a re-run of Cobo 10 years on

Cobo finished 3rd in Burgos 10 years ago.

 

[hayneplane]

Cobo finished 3rd in Burgos 10 years ago.

Wow. So who could be the Froome in this analogy. Could be Sam Oomen who like Froome with Wiggins is a relatively unheralded rider who crashed out of the Tour whilst heavily favoured a la Roglic.

 

[will-10]

Wow. So who could be the Froome in this analogy. Could be Sam Oomen who like Froome with Wiggins is a relatively unheralded rider who crashed out of the Tour whilst heavily favoured a la Roglic.

Palzer would make a good Froome substitute

 

[ice&fire]

Wow. So who could be the Froome in this analogy. Could be Sam Oomen who like Froome with Wiggins is a relatively unheralded rider who crashed out of the Tour whilst heavily favoured a la Roglic.

Nibali was also 3rd in Burgos '13. This might be Padun vs Valverde

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Wow. So who could be the Froome in this analogy. Could be Sam Oomen who like Froome with Wiggins is a relatively unheralded rider who crashed out of the Tour whilst heavily favoured a la Roglic.

Wiggins was kind of disregarded before the race because of its characteristics being felt to not suit him, whereas Oomen being on Jumbo means he'll be going in with the outright favourite as leader. As a result you're probably looking at somebody like Natarov, as being 10th in the Girobio and winning the Tour of Almaty as his biggest results are as close a facsimile as I can find for somebody on a team with strong contenders but not the outright favourite. Pretty much all of the Jumbo, Ineos, Movistar and even EF team are too established, too well-known or too earmarked as promising to really fit into the niche Froome fit in 2011.

 

[TMJ]

Wow. Already 41 secs behind the leader and even slower than Hugh Carthy. Where was Padun's power?
Is it only there when the road goes dramatically uphill?

 

[SafeBet]

I can't remember him ever doing even a decent time trial in his life. No surprises here. He might still dominate a couple of mountain stages though.

 

[will-10]

Wow. Already 41 secs behind the leader and even slower than Hugh Carthy. Where was Padun's power?
Is it only there when the road goes dramatically uphill?

Just giving the others a chance

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Just giving the others a chance

Too much of fat carb loading at home (delicious dishes by mommy). In the third week he should be firing on all cylinders, don't be surprised with 2000+ of VAM on Gamoniteiru.

 

[TMJ]

He hit the front for a long time today on the final climb, so is as expected, totally in the service of Landa.
It seemed as he was effortlessly leading the peloton and started pulling a gap on his leader so deliberately slowed down after looking over his shoulder and seeing Landa being distanced.
Maybe all that time with his face in the wind cost big Mark in the end because he finished 20secs behind the main favourites.

 

[AlfaLum]

He hit the front for a long time today on the final climb, so is as expected, totally in the service of Landa.
It seemed as he was effortlessly leading the peloton and started pulling a gap on his leader so deliberately slowed down after looking over his shoulder and seeing Landa being distanced.
Maybe all that time with his face in the wind cost big Mark in the end because he finished 20secs behind the main favourites.

Still weird that Bahrain chooses to use him before Caruso, Poels, Haig, Mader. He is probably their strongest rider at the moment, but definitely second best. So he should have gotten a different role in my opinion.

 

[topcat]

Rumour has it that Mark is going to Ineos. If it happens, then Pogacar's run at the tour is coming to an abrupt end. Brilliant signing, Dave.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

He is going to become a time trialist

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Rumour has it that Mark is going to Ineos. If it happens, then Pogacar's run at the tour is coming to an abrupt end. Brilliant signing, Dave.

Under Sir Dave Brailsford's supervision he'll become a monster! Marginal gain loss (weight).

 

[will-10]

Tadej won't sleep tonight

 

[pastronef]

He is going to become a time trialist

he was Nat TT champ as Junior, U23 and Elite. has a background, can improve for sure

 

[SafeBet]

he was Nat TT champ as Junior, U23 and Elite. has a background, can improve for sure

I wouldn't call it a background. Outside of Ukraine he's been a poor TTer pretty much his whole career.

 

[Ilmaestro99]

National championship TT of Ukraine is not a TT background at all, but when Paddun starts winning WT GC races because of his TT at Ineos, will be used as a convenient background.

 

[pastronef]

National championship TT of Ukraine is not a TT background at all, but when Paddun starts winning WT GC races because of his TT at Ineos, will be used as a convenient background.

you seem to be sure he'll smash the TT's if he goes to Ineos

 

[Mayomaniac]

Maybe off topic, but the name Padun just sounds Northern Italian to me, I always expect him to be from the Veneto region (with a really thick accent).

 

[topcat]

Maybe off topic, but the name Padun just sounds Northern Italian to me, I always expect him to be from the Veneto region (with a really thick accent).

So you're a fan. What's not to love about him?
P.S. Maybe the exhilarating giro route suits him.

 

[topcat]

Our Mark is going to EF. Career over. It sure was good while it lasted.

 

[Skijumper Roglic fan]

Padun joins EF, I read… I‘m very surprised.

He has big potential, is 25. When you ride for Bahrain, and you are Padun, there are actually only five possibilities:

Continue with Bahrain, or join UAE, Ineos, DQS or JV.

I think he won‘t be paid what he deserves, at EF. And I think, EF don‘t offer him the environment he needs, to improve further.

 

[Anderis]

I think he won‘t be paid what he deserves, at EF.

He would have signed with another team if that was the case.

Our Mark is going to EF. Career over. It sure was good while it lasted.

Don't know what this exaggeration is about. EF have consistently placed around 10-12th team in WT over years (not every year, but often enough) with around 17th biggest budget in WT. This means one thing- they're getting more out of a rider than an average WT team. They won RVV with Bettiol, who didn't even have half the hype of Moscon when they were both arriving in WT. They had a GT podium and queen stage win with Carthy and they got a TdF podium with Uran in 2017 who had been previously written off as a GT prospect by many after a bad year at Quick Step.
Perhaps teams like ineos or Jumbo offer a better chance of getting to the very top for GT prospects but not everybody can ride there and EF have had a lot of success considering the fact they've never had the money to compete for the most obvious talents and always had to go with the overlooked ones. Many riders of whom nobody expected much from made fine careers there.

 

[topcat]

EF offer the perfect prospect of riding into obscurity and oblivion.