Definition of PELOTON

Did You Know?

If you've ever watched the Tour de France on television, you've seen the peloton, the brightly colored pack of riders making up the central group. You may have also gained some inadvertent insight into the word itself, which as you may have guessed is French in origin. In French, "peloton" literally means "ball," but it is most often used with the meaning "group." It's frequently used in the bicycling context, just as in English, but it can also refer to a group in a marathon or other sporting event. French peloton can also mean "squad" or "platoon," and since we’ve told you that you probably won’t be too surprised to learn that it is also the source of our word platoon.

Examples of peloton in a Sentence

He broke away from the peloton and sprinted into the lead.

Recent Examples on the Web

Since Wiggins won in 2012 wearing a Team Sky jersey, the richest team in the peloton has claimed every edition of the race except one, in 2014 when Froome crashed out and Vincenzo Nibali of Italy emerged victorious. — Samuel Petrequin, The Seattle Times, "Team Sky’s dominance at Tour de France set to continue," 30 July 2018 Riders were enjoying a calm sunny afternoon until a pileup near the front of the peloton with just over 5K left that sent several riders to the tarmac. — Joseph Wilson, The Seattle Times, "Gaviria beats Sagan again to claim 2nd Tour win on Stage 4," 10 July 2018 Long before the peloton sees a mountain range, the Tour de France will throw riders one of the biggest booby-traps in cycling: cobblestone roads. — Joshua Robinson, WSJ, "The Biggest Booby-Trap at the Tour de France: Cobblestone Roads," 13 July 2018 Fans cheered and waved the black-and-white striped Breton flag on the roadside as the peloton rolled through the country villages. — Joseph Wilson, BostonGlobe.com, "Colombia’s Fernando Gaviria wins Stage 4 of Tour de France," 10 July 2018 But the crucial test will be the following day, when the peloton tackles a long, brutal stage that ends with a hard climb in Lake Tahoe. — sacbee, "'I’m no scrub': Why altitude doesn't worry Tejay van Garderen in Tour of California | The Sacramento Bee," 16 May 2018 The Tour will spend three more days in northeastern Brittany, where fans waved black-and-white striped Breton flag on the roadside as the peloton rolled through the country villages. — Joseph Wilson, The Seattle Times, "Gaviria beats Sagan again to claim 2nd Tour win on Stage 4," 10 July 2018 Froome, who fell into a ditch near the end of Saturday’s opening stage, arrived safely with most of the peloton. — Joseph Wilson, BostonGlobe.com, "Peter Sagan sprints to the finish to win second stage of Tour de France," 8 July 2018 During the final laps of the 2017 Dutch National Road Championships, in Montferland, the peloton surged through a fine June rain. — Outside Online, "Marianne Vos Is the Boss," 15 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'peloton.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.