Mark Padun officially signs with Team Corratec - Selle Italia - "It was a very ambitious transfer"

The signing was already agreed on and reported by Gazzetta dello Sport a few days ago but it has not been made official by the team. Team Corratec - Selle Italia sign yet another World Tour rider in Mark Padun, in their bid to increase their level further.

"I am ready for this new challenge. It's nice to return to Italy where I raced among the Under-23s. I think the Italian calendar suits me, there are many hard and selective races where I hope I can give my contribution to the team," the Ukrainian - the third signed within a few months - said in a press release issued by the team. "I want to do well and I thank the team management for giving me this new chance, making me feel at home immediately".

Some of Padun's biggest successes in his career were in Italy, the 27-year old won a stage of the 2018 Tour of the Alps and the overall classification of the Adriatica Ionica Race in 2019 - his first wins outside of national championships as a pro. He was of course then hitting headlines at the 2021 Criterium du Dauphiné where he won both the final mountain stages, a set of performances that was a staggering surprise. He has never reached that level again however. Padun did win the final time-trial of the Gran Camiño in 2022 against strong competition, but lacked consistency throughout the past few years. He now takes a step down to ProTeam level, where he hopes to find more opportunities for himself to perform.

Francesco Frassi, DS of the Italian team, is equally happy with yet another World Tour signing into the team: "The arrival of Padun further raises the level of our team. It was a very ambitious transfer session in which we aimed to improve. What we were missing was a rider like Padun, who has shown that he can go strong on all types of terrain, both uphill and time trial, and that when he's in full shape he can compete and beat the best riders in the world. We will try to make him feel at home right away because he will be a fundamental element for our team".