You often use terms like “peloton,” “caravan” and “echelon” during Live Updates. What’s the difference?
The peloton is a term applied to a large group of cyclists moving down the road as a single unit. We generally apply the term to the main field, the largest group of riders on the road at a given point in a stage. The term “caravan” – the race caravan – is just that, the collection of team cars and other vehicles following the peloton down the road. The caravan is often mentioned because dropped riders have to work their way through the caravan in order to regain contact with the peloton. That’s not to be confused with that daily parade of weirdness, the caravane publicitaire, which travels the same route an hour or two before the peloton rolls through. “Echelons” are formed when the peloton hits a stretch of road buffeted by strong crosswinds. Riders will form up to gain maximum protection against the wind by lining up in diagonal lines across the road. At some point, space runs out and riders lose contact, forcing the creation of a second echelon. The real danger is that the time gap
