peloton

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noun pel·o·ton \ ˌpe-lə-ˈtän , ˈpe-lə-ˌtän \

Definition of peloton

:the main body of riders in a bicycle race

See peloton defined for English-language learners

peloton was our Word of the Day on 07/06/2010. Hear the podcast!

Examples of peloton in a Sentence

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

Recent Examples of peloton from the Web

On this day the polka dots were his reward for spending nearly 200 kilometers of a flat stage in a four-man breakaway that was subsumed by the boiling peloton a half-mile from the finish.

— austin murphy, SI.com, "Veloci-Rapture: At 200 Years Old, A Look At the Bicycle’s Effect on Health, Sports and Culture," 24 July 2017
Then when the peloton split, Aru was on the bad side of the split and lost 30 seconds.

— jada yuan, Daily Intelligencer, "Chris Froome Wins Tour de France, Again," 23 July 2017
But the sport has moved on, too, no more weighed down by his negativity and rancor that overshadowed the peloton’s amazing athletic performances.

— juliet macur, New York Times, "Tour de France Analysis From Its Most Infamous Rider: Lance Armstrong," 18 July 2017
Froome was near the front of the peloton when a Katusha rider ahead of him lost control coming around a sharp turn with about 30 20 miles to go.

— andrew dampf, courant.com, "Kittel's Tour Win Contrasts With Cycling's Dirty Past," 2 July 2017
After opening with stages in Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg, the peloton will climb the Vosges and Jura Ranges in eastern France.

— andrew dampf, Washington Post, "TOUR 2017: Froome sees Porte challenge on unfavorable route," 28 June 2017
In response, Vélez said, its riders who make it into race breakaways are sometimes chased down by the rest of the peloton to deny them stage wins.

— john otis, New York Times, "Cyclists Chase Glory for Colombia, and, Some Say, in Spite of It," 7 June 2017
With the hard-charging peloton chasing them down, Huffman, a former multi-sport athlete at Elk Grove High School, sprinted clear of the five-man break and threw his arms up at the finish line, winning the fourth stage in dramatic fashion Wednesday.

— sacbee, sacbee.com, "El Dorado Hills cyclist scores ‘incredible’ win in Stage 4 of Tour of California," 17 May 2017
The 17 teams will regroup after the leaders laid waste to the peloton, hoping to find a way back into the race Thursday on the grueling uphill finish at Mount Baldy and Friday during a difficult time trial at Big Bear Lake.

— elliott almond, The Mercury News, "Tour of California: Wild day with dramatic finish in San Jose," 15 May 2017

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.

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.