Peloton Peloton In a road bicycle race, the peloton (from French, originally meaning 'platoon') is the main group or pack of riders. Riders in a group save energy by riding close (drafting or slipstreaming) near (particularly behind) other riders. The reduction in drag is dramatic; in the middle of a well-developed group drag can be reduced to as little as 5%-10%. Exploitation of this potential energy saving leads to very complex cooperative and competitive interactions between riders and teams in race tactics. The term is also used to refer to the community of professional cyclists in general, as in 'the professional
2011 Ladies Tour of Qatar a 5-second advantage over Giorgia Bronzini (Italy). Veronica Andréasson (Sweden) made a break at 54 km after the second intermediate sprint and held the lead for 3 km. 25 km from the finish, Valentina Bastianelli made an unsuccessful break. 5 km from the finish, the peloton remained bunched. On reaching a slight uphill portion near Dukhan, a group of twelve riders broke away to reach the finish 15 seconds before the main group. Hosking won the 'best young rider' class for the stage. The second stage was held in windy conditions. There was a headwind for the first 40 km.