"peloton" ??? [7th position]

I’m probably stating the painfully obvious here, but, no doubt, ‘peloton’ came in seventh due to the fact that Lance Armstrong, an American, won the Tour de France (TdF) for a sixth time, breaking the standing record of five wins held by Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, and Miguel Induráin. Since professional cycling is not valued highly by the majority of Americans, most are not familiar with cycling’s terms. Armstrong’s fifth win was big, but his attempt at a sixth win pushed professional cycling into the consciousness of more Americans than ever before: thus the interest in the word ‘peloton.’


Definition: in cycling, a densely packed group of riders who stay together for mutual advantage

'Peloton' is indeed “a densely packed group of riders who stay together for mutual advantage.” The word, however, is not used only to refer to the riders of the TdF. In the English-speaking cycling world, ‘peloton’ is used to describe riders grouped together in any professional road race. Amateur cyclists also use the word to refer to any large group of cyclist riding together in training rides, rallies, or races.

‘Pro peloton’ refers to all professional road cyclists, especially those who race in Europe, whether they are racing at the time or not.


If I tried to ride in a densely packed group we would definitely wind up in a heap.

Riding in a peloton can indeed be unnerving, especially if there are a bunch of beginners in it. Riding in a peloton of experienced cyclists is actually fairly comfortable. That’s not to say, however, if one rider goes down, especially at the front, he or she won’t take the majority of the peloton down too. If you are unlucky enough to be in the middle of a fast group, and someone up front goes down, there is almost nothing you can do to avoid wrecking – and bikes don’t have crumple zones. Bones seem to crumple (so to speak) fairly easily though.