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
Peloton riders are strong, especially if none of the riders in the break is a danger man (in contention for a win in the overall contest), and if they all pull together as a team. The peloton will not allow a break with a danger man to get far ahead. Strong teams who want to bring their sprinter into contention for the win come to the front of the peloton and dictate a harsh pace, imposing fatigue on rivals, meanwhile breakaway riders (who individually must spend much more time exposed to the wind than peloton members) sequentially succumb to fatigue and