Riding Together
ARiders in a professional cycling race rarely travel alone. Instead, they ride in tight groups, close behind the wheel in front. The main reason is air resistance: at racing speeds, pushing through the air accounts for most of a cyclist's effort. A rider who stays directly behind another is partly protected from the wind and can keep the same pace while using noticeably less energy. The rider at the front, however, has no such protection, so team members usually take turns in the lead, each staying there only briefly. In this way, the effort is shared, and a group can cover long distances without any single rider becoming exhausted.
BFor years, the size of this benefit was judged from early wind-tunnel tests with only a few riders in a line. These suggested that following riders faced about half the air resistance of a rider alone. Far from confirming this figure, a 2018 study of 121 model riders found that those in the middle of a large group faced only five to ten per cent of a lone rider's resistance.