Is the Peloton mostly silent?

[Microchip]

I've been wondering if the peloton is quiet for the duration of the stage with only the sound of whirring wheels and revolving pedals. Do they chat with each other? I've been looking to see if I see them talking with each other and so far they all appear poker-faced, mouth open (sometimes), totally focused on the road ahead. No conversations going on as far as I could see - and I've tried very hard to see during the ESPN broadcast.

So, do they talk about girls, their wives, or upcoming vacations, on the road?

 

[avanti]

I watch races on NBCSN and observe that riders do not talk much during key parts of the stage (climbs, sprints, etc) but do chat during much of the stage including to members of other teams. They also use hand signals to warn of hazards or position. During some races they wear radios and can communicate with team riders and their team cars.

 

[Microchip]

Then ESPN only shows those key moments. Would be nice to catch a glimpse of a more realistic view sometime.

 

[Yingge]

From standing roadside during a few stages of the Tour De Romandie back in April, my observation was yes, they do chat with teammates and those from other teams, though usually in the main part of the peleton, not at the front. Obviously that idle chatter dies away on climbs, descents and closer to the finish.

 

[Steve H.]

I thought Landis stayed in his interviews they discussed many topics.

 

[LauraLyn]

I've been wondering if the peloton is quiet for the duration of the stage with only the sound of whirring wheels and revolving pedals. Do they chat with each other? I've been looking to see if I see them talking with each other and so far they all appear poker-faced, mouth open (sometimes), totally focused on the road ahead. No conversations going on as far as I could see - and I've tried very hard to see during the ESPN broadcast.

So, do they talk about girls, their wives, or upcoming vacations, on the road?

In the women's races there is plenty of chit-chat in the peleton, especially as the race is warming up or when things seem pretty much under control. Yeah, BFs, husbands , trips come up. Could be almost anything, but not much politics or philosophy.

 

[Afrank]

I am on the team of a local bike shop in my town, and the owner of the shop is a former professional cyclist who used to ride for Rabobank. This thread makes me think of one time when I was talking to him he told me that when he was riding in a race he used to sing out loud. It was very annoying to the other rider obviously, especially when they were working hard.

 

[Microchip]

I am on the team of a local bike shop in my town, and the owner of the shop is a former professional cyclist who used to ride for Rabobank. This thread makes me think of one time when I was talking to him he told me that when he was riding in a race he used to sing out loud. It was very annoying to the other rider obviously, especially when they were working hard.

Too funny!!! ...how's his singing voice?

 

[Michele]

The images that you see are usually from the last kms so there's a lot of tension etc and no discussion going on beside a few tactic talks between team mates.

 

[Pulpstar]

I think it depends how hard they are going, obviously in a 3 week race with each stage over 100 miles and many climbs you simply can't be redlining it all the way through, well if you are that belongs in a different forum .

So much as with my running group when my HR is say maybe in the 120-150 range its very easy to keep up a conversation, sing like Cav did and just generally chat amongst the peloton.

Obviously when the HR, effort and watts go up and riders have their race face on trying to hang in there on the climbs conversation will be restricted to a few key tactical words here and there.

 

[Afrank]

Too funny!!! ...how's his singing voice?

Obviously not the best because people got pretty annoyed with him. Of course I doubt any kind of singing would sound good when your producing 400 watts up a climb trying to hold off a charging peloton .

 

[9000ft]

They talk about the latest scuttlebutt from the Cycling News forums. It's where they get all their news and learn proper race tactics.

 

[Microchip]

They talk about the latest scuttlebutt from the Cycling News forums. It's where they get all their news and learn proper race tactics.

I think it depends how hard they are going ... Obviously when the HR, effort and watts go up and riders have their race face on trying to hang in there on the climbs conversation will be restricted to a few key tactical words here and there.

Obviously not the best because people got pretty annoyed with him. Of course I doubt any kind of singing would sound good when your producing 400 watts up a climb trying to hold off a charging peloton .

Hah hah!!

Rider 1: [GASP!!!] You should've heard the cost of [GASP] the Italian living room set my wife wants!! [GASP]
Rider 2: [GASP!] Women [GASP] and spending money!! [GASP!!] They're legend[GASP]ary!!

 

[workingclasshero]

In the women's races there is plenty of chit-chat in the peleton, especially as the race is warming up or when things seem pretty much under control. Yeah, BFs, husbands , trips come up. Could be almost anything, but not much politics or philosophy.

they also do their knitting while the race is quiet

 

[leftover pie]

I've been looking to see if I see them talking with each other and so far they all appear poker-faced, mouth open (sometimes), totally focused on the road ahead.

on my recent trip to france all i saw on most of the rider's faces was the look of excruciating pain and/or discomfort, much like this:

]

the guys in the last few groups at the very back of the race were having a fair old chat about stuff though.

 

[ansimi]

I remember Valverde used to be quite chatty even when he should have been paying more attention. I think he got caught out a few times that way.

 

[RedheadDane]

I've been wondering if the peloton is quiet for the duration of the stage with only the sound of whirring wheels and revolving pedals. Do they chat with each other? I've been looking to see if I see them talking with each other and so far they all appear poker-faced, mouth open (sometimes), totally focused on the road ahead. No conversations going on as far as I could see - and I've tried very hard to see during the ESPN broadcast.

So, do they talk about girls, their wives, or upcoming vacations, on the road?

When I was at the Tour of Denmark recently they were definitely talking (or... at least the Danish guys were, I don't think I heard anything not Danish...)

 

[BillytheKid]

Then ESPN only shows those key moments. Would be nice to catch a glimpse of a more realistic view sometime.

One day races afford very little time for chit chat. Stage races often have race on, race off periods and so you might see some talk. What we seldom see is the first hour of racing, which is sad because when a break is trying to form, it can be very hard and just plain good racing. The coverage usually starts after the break has been establish and tempo riding sets in, back in the field there's a huge amount of draft and some easy pedaling, but that's where most crashes happen and you taking a risk of getting caught in a split if things throttle up.

Most people who have never done a real sanction race at a elite level can never grasp it. ESPN, escpecially, makes no effort to grasp it. I was not even aware that they still shown cycling except for brief highlights.

 

[Microchip]

ESPN shows the TDF and the Vuelta. However, several mornings when it was scheduled, the Vuelta just didn't come on, there were other things going on in its place.