Lachlan Morton is once again using his bicycle to make a difference. This time he is teaming up with EF Education-EasyPost teammate Mark Padun to distribute Cannondale bicycles on Saturday to 13 Ukrainian junior racers who have fled to Poland and become refugees due to the Russian invasion.

Padun, now 26 and a six-year veteran World Tour pro, knows firsthand that his world has been turned upside down. He fled his home in Donetsk, Ukraine, when he was 17 to avoid the Russian invasion. After spending time at a cycling academy near Kiev, he moved to Italy and raced for an under-23 team near Bergamo; by 2017 he had turned pro with Bahrain-Merida.

"I always had the dream of becoming a pro cyclist," he said. Every time I attended a training camp in Ukraine, I knew I wanted to be a pro cyclist and that's what I was working towards."

Padun signed with EF Education-EasyPost for the 2022 season, opening with a time trial victory in Gran Camino, Spain, and finishing third overall, trying to stay focused as Russia attacked Ukraine.

"The first race of the season started a war. But this is my job. I do the best I can. I was constantly thinking about what was happening, checking the news, asking my relatives how they were doing, and hoping it would end soon," Padun said. [He then went on to complete the Vuelta a España and the Italian fall classics, finishing 11th in the Giro delle Miglia.

Since the 2022 season ended, Padun has been collecting cycling gear to give to Ukrainian refugees, especially children interested in racing. On Saturday, he and Morton will be in Poland distributing bicycles and gear.

Morton is again focusing on an alternative cycling calendar that includes mountain bike endurance events, off-road LIFE TIME GRAND PRIX series races in the US, and the UCI Gravel World Championships in Italy.

This spring, he rode 1,063 kilometers (660.5 miles) in 42 hours from Munich, Germany, to Koltsova, Poland, on the Ukrainian border, to raise funds and awareness for those and families displaced by the Russian invasion. In what he calls his "One Ride Away" initiative (open in new tab), Morton's efforts brought in $297,000 for GlobalGiving's Ukraine crisis relief fund.

"This represents the end of the hardship I have chosen to end, but it also symbolizes the hardship that is forced upon so many people on this side of the border," Morton said in late March after the two-day ride.

"I hope the cycling community can come together and support these people."