I must say,
Mister Plutarch, your rump poem is indicative of rare talent. Bravo!
(Maybe change "victorious" to "triumphus" for a closer rhyme) 
Only a fool would dare challenge such a brilliant, but low genius, so I thought about it briefly and then decided to offer some observations about the mechanics of the peloton instead.
(1) The analogy of the V pattern of migrating geese is limited in explaining the nature of the peloton.
Lateral vision is used by geese in correcting errant navigation and in finding feed and rest sites. Geese can't peloton because they would bump into the rump of the goose flying directly ahead; unlike TEd Remington the eyes of geese are on the sides of their head.
(2) Collective Angular Momentum: ( Be advised, this idea is a bit exotic.) Draw these associations...
__(a) Cyclists moving in a peloton can functionally be thought of as having the physical dynamics of a single unit.
__(b) When a cyclist in a surge breaks out from the peloton a dissapportionate amount of the angular momentum of the unit is transfered to the cyclist breaking away, ergo, the slingshot. (This makes sense in concept)
__(c) As well, the larger the peloton the lesser the disturbance of the aerodynamics by the loss of a single biker.
(3) Spiders. The most agressive male spider almost
always wins in courtship battles with other males, and so wins the dubious honor of mating with the female, "dubious" because sometimes, he afterwards becomes her meal.
And like spider like human, it is usually the most aggressive male who wins the woman, money or fame.
Man is, like it or not, a social animal. So nice it is to ride along in the ease and comfort of the peloton, perhaps or not, watching the pleasant rump in view just ahead...but then - out of the blue - some malcontent, some rude iconoclast, breaks away from the confort of the peloton and arrogantly pedals ahead.
On occasion (but rarely) indignation and perseverance will overtake this bastard of egoism (but rarely).
But almost always, the rude bastard wins.
As he should.
This is the real reason for the peloton. Get it?
