Cycling 101 – Terminology

All sports have language that they use to describe what is going on.  Some terms are self explanatory, some seem like they would be but aren’t and others are unique unto the sport.  I will share some of the more common cycling terms to you.

The first term that you will hear constantly if you ever read about or watch cycling is PELOTON.  Peloton is a french word simply meaning the group.  This is the main group of cyclist in a race.

BREAKAWAY – This is a rider or group of riders that will pull ahead of the peloton in an attempt to gain points during the stage and/or win the overall stage.  It depends on how many riders and which riders make up the breakaway that determines whether or not the peloton will “let them go” or “pull them back in.”  If the right combination of riders get away then it takes pressure off of the “controlling” team until they get close to the end of the stage.

THE CATCH – This is when the peloton reaches a breakaway group at the end of a stage.  This will create one large group again and allow for a group Sprint to the finish line.  The breakaway is almost always caught but occasionally the peloton will miscalculate their timing and the breakaway will be successful.  This is why each stage will always have a breakaway attempt.

FLYER – This is a rider that will sit about 6-7 riders back in the peloton and use the pace of the peloton and the draft of the folks in front of them as a springboard and shoot out of the pack in an attempt to become a breakaway or to get a jump on the Sprinter’s in a group sprint at the finish.

CHASE GROUP – When a breakaway has formed there might be some riders that wanted to be in that group but missed their opportunity.  They will take off out of the peloton and try to chase down the breakaway to join it.  When following cycling on TV they usually keep a line at the bottom of the screen that will show how far the breakaway is from the finish and then the difference in time between the breakaway and CHASE 1, CHASE 2, PELOTON, etc.  This helps the viewer keep up with who is where and how likely the Peloton is to make THE CATCH.  You will see more chase groups on mountain stages than sprint stages because of the difficulty of the terrain the main bunch will get separated out more.

PACELINE - When a group of riders line up single file and ride pretty much on top of each other they are said to be a paceline.  This allows all but the front rider to “rest” in the draft of the rider in front of them.  The lead rider will stay at the front “taking a pull” for about 30 seconds to a minute and then they will move to the side “peel off” and let the line pass them until they move back onto the back of the line.  An optimum paceline is 5-8 riders.  A group of 6 with 30 second pulls would allow each rider a 2 1/2 minute rest before having to do 30 seconds of hard work.  Riding in someone’s draft decreases your output level but doesn’t decrease your speed by a considerable amount.

SITTING ON – When in a paceline it is customary to take your turn at the front doing part of the work.  When a rider doesn’t “take a pull” but only enjoys the benefit of the draft they are said to be sitting on.  There are certain situations where this is allowed based on strategy and tactics but that is a blog for another day.

BIDON: This is a fancy name for a waterbottle.

MUSSET SAK: This is the bag of food that is handed to a rider when they ride through the “feed zone” during a race.  There is fresh Bidons, Gels, Powerbars, maybe a sandwich, and if the weather is changing their needed uniform stuff like a rain jacket or arm warmers.  The rider will grab the bag while still riding, sling it over one shoulder, and remove the wanted items stuffing them in his jersey pockets and then will toss the Musset to the side of the road.  Any fan lucky enough to be where the bag is tossed is welcome to keep it as a souvenir.  The same is true for discarded water bottles along the route.  (I own one of J J Haedo’s water bottles from the Tour de Georgia)

ESCHELON – When riding into a headwind riders will form a paceline to block the wind from the riders in their draft.  When their is a crosswind the riders will form an eschelon.  This is where the riders fan out along the road so they can be in someone’s draft only the wind is being blocked from the side not the front.  When the crosswinds are really strong the peloton will break apart into multiple eschelon’s.  It is hard to ride this way but looks really cool from the bird’s eye view.

GRUPPETO – On a mountain stage the strong riders will be in a breakway, chase, or the peloton.  Unfortunately for the Sprinter’s they have to suffer through a mountain stage to stay in the race and be available to fight on the Sprint stages.  Because the sprinters aren’t made to climb they will form their own group at the back called a gruppeto or “little peloton.”  They have to go as fast as is necessary to make the time cut off on the stage but they don’t have to go at the peloton race speed because they aren’t looking for the stage win or overall GC win.

This should be enough to help you out.  If I think of others I will include them in future blogs.  My next edition of Cycling 101 will talk about some racing strategy.  It won’t be much since I have never raced so all I know is what I have learned from watching.