In a road bicycle race, the peloton is the main group or pack of riders. Riders in a group save energy by riding close to other riders. The reduction in drag is dramatic; riding 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 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.
Peloton at 2018 Giro d'Italia
Peloton riding in a straight line to increase slipstreaming, thus reducing drag and conserving energy for cyclists behind, often for key riders such as sprinters or GC cyclists
Cycle sport is competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, and cycle speedway. Non-racing cycling sports include artistic cycling, cycle polo, freestyle BMX, mountain bike trials, hardcourt bike polo and cycleball. The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) is the world governing body for cycling and international competitive cycling events. The International Human Powered Vehicle Association is the governing body for human-powered vehicles that imposes far fewer restrictions on their design than does the UCI. The UltraMarathon Cycling Association is the governing body for many ultra-distance cycling races.
Cyclists in the 2021 Giro d'Italia race.
OP Grand Prix, a one-hour cycling competition in Porvoo, Finland, on June 11th 2005
Cycle-racing has a long history: French cyclists Léon Flameng and Paul Masson at the 1896 Summer Olympics.
In many European countries, bicycle racing is a source of national pride: German Democratic Republic postage stamp depicting Täve Schur, 1960