“Nothing in American sports resembles the bizarre dynamic of the cycling peloton, partly because a stage race is less a sporting event than a commodities exchange on wheels. What appears to be a random mass of bicycles is really an orderly, complex web of shifting alliances, crossed with brutal competition, designed to keep or acquire the market’s most valued currency: energy.”
From Fortune magazine, of all places, comes one of the better articles I’ve seen explaining pro cycling. They use the money-related and economics metaphors to explain why tactics are important, and the hierarchy and deal-making that happens within the peleton during a race. A good read.
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Wow. That’s great. And it’s all true. I used to be a good amateur racer back in the late ’70s, and this is one of the best explanations I’ve ever seen about the inner workings of a racing pack.
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