Winning while war rages at home
Powerful and poignant victories for Ukrainians Budyak and Padun
Ukrainian riders have responded to the war at home by focusing on winning and trying to provide moral support to their compatriots fighting at home. Anatoliy Budyak won twice in the space of 10 days.
The 26-year-old, who rides for the Malaysian team Terengganu Polygon, won stage six of the Tour du Rwanda the day after Russia invaded his country, and on Sunday won the Grand Prix Mediterranean in Turkey.
Morale victory
Speaking to Cycling Weekly before his latest win, he said of his victory in Rwanda: “I wanted to win in order to support the whole of Ukraine. I tried to be focused on the race, but at the same time there were thoughts and feelings about my family and Ukraine. This situation motivated me.”
In the past two seasons Budyak has ridden a Turkish-dominated calendar, and when asked if he would return to his homeland to fight, he said: “I can’t get home. All the airports are closed. My team, my region and Ukraine do everything possible for me. I am grateful to them for their support.”
Confirming he will continue to race in the coming weeks, Budyak added: “It so happens that I can’t help, only morally and with my results I will try to support my family and all of Ukraine.
“My family and all of Ukraine are now in shock and stress. Every day innocent people die. No one in Ukraine wants war – everyone wants peace. I want to turn to the Russian president, their army and the people who support the war and say: please think again, stop the war, nobody needs it.”
Meanwhile, Mark Padun, the highestprofile Ukrainian rider in the men’s peloton, has asked for no special favours or treatment as he uses racing to deal with the war in his motherland.
The EF Education-easypost rider won the final day time trial at the Gran
Camiño, just four days into the Russian invasion in Ukraine. He is this week racing Tirreno-adriatico.
Padun is from the city of Donetsk, an area that has been besieged by war since 2014. His family now live in Seattle in the United States, and Padun told his team that he doesn’t want any change to his racing calendar.
Jonathan Vaughters, the team’s manager, told Cycling Weekly: “Mark asked me that everyone treats him like any other rider. Everyone being overly cautious or worried about him will not help. He said the way he can feel better is to win a race he can dedicate to his country. And of course that’s what he did.
“With my results I will try to support my family and all of Ukraine”
Business as usual
“As the situation started to get hotter and hotter, I asked him if he wanted to race and if he needed time off. It was like, ‘What do you need?’ His answer was that the best thing for him is to focus on his racing, and be sent to the races that were on his schedule. He said he needs to focus his energies on racing and try not to become too sad or too run down by the news, because it will not get better any time soon but only get worse.”