Road Bike Racing - Working for ??

I keep hear "X works for Y", or "X set the pace of the peloron"..etc
How can a rider work for another rider?
I mean, they are both on the same speed, how does the "front" guy helps the "back" guy?
an example is Landis working for Lance..

thanks a lot guys !

By riding behind Landis, Lance is working 20-30% less than if he was at the front. In other words, it's much easier to ride behind someone than in front of them.

It's called drafting and is extremely important.

you mean, it is just blocking the air ??

you mean, it is just blocking the air ??

g'day,

nah, it's a lot more than that...although 'blocking the air' (as you call it) is part of it. Saving 20 to 30% of your effort by 'sitting on' has a huge impact. The 'domestiques', (a French term probably derives from Domestics, or servants) do many many things for the taem leader. They will 'block the wind', chase down breaks, sit on the front & ride at a pace designed to prevent breaks, fetch food & drink for the leader,disrupted the chase if the leader is away,etc, etc. they will do all things they can to ensure the best result for the leader, thus the term ......'working for'....hope this helps.,

cheers,

Hitchy

alright... nice explanation Hitchy.. but when we have a group of 2 of the same team (for ex. Lance and Landis) riding together and Landis is in the front.. it is only to block the air right ??

When Landis is in front of Lance, it makes it 20% easier for Lance. So yes. Don't know if "blocking the air" is the right term. Landis is creating a slipstream for Lance to ride in.

You'll see team leaders surrounded by their team. This is also done to protect their captain. That way if there's a crash, a few teammates will go down first, rather than their leader.

walid97 - you should try this sometime with another person or a group of people. it's amazing how much faster and easier you can ride while drafting.

also, sometimes in a break, you'll see two or more riders riding in a paceline - where each one takes a turn pulling and the others recover by soft peddling until it's their turn to pull (go to the front and take on the wind and set the pace).

Thank you guys, I finalllly got it.. I thought air wasn't that important..

So at the end "working for" is: (I will give a US Postal vs T. Mobile example (correct me if I am wrong))

- Setting the pace of the peloton by the teammates (if Ullrich is in a breakaway and the US Postal is "driving" the peloton.
- Slowing the pace of the peloton (if Lance is in a breakaway and the US Postal guys are driving the peloton)
- Handling food and water to Lance
- Creating slipstream in the case where Lance and 1 or more teammates are in the same group (Landis will work hard so that Lance will spend 30% less energy then when Landis is gone, Lance is on his own)


Is that true?
hehe.. no wonder how Lance won the Tour 6 times!! he has a great team!

You got it.

20-30% of the energy a cyclist expends is simply to move the air out of the way. This is in still air. A headwind just makes matters worse. As someone earlier mentioned, if you ever get to draft behind someone you will see this for yourself. You will probably find that you can go 3, perhaps even 4, mph faster with the same apparent effort.

you mean, it is just blocking the air ??

I read somewhere that, on a flat road with an efficient bicycle, about %80 of the friction is air resistance, while the other %20 is for things such as road and other mechanical resistance.

It heavily depends on speed and incline.

check this out:

http://www.exploratorium.edu/cycling/aerodynamics2.html

seems the front rider benefits from his own drafting too!!