Sure, I understand the concept of a peloton -- all the riders in a pack get the same time, to discourage everyone from trying to wade through hundreds of other riders and cause a bunch of accidents.

However, what is the technical definition of a peloton? If there are just two riders, one behind the other, the two riders are timed independently, right? So two riders does not constitute a peloton.

What about five or ten or twenty riders in a paceline? Do they constitute a peloton? Do they all receive the same time, or different times? Any of them is capable of passing the others, because there is certainly room to do so.

What about small breakaway groups that are only a bike-length or two ahead or behind the bulk of the peloton? Are they given the peloton time, or different times?

How close does a rider need to be to other riders to be considered part of the peloton?

I know, I know, it hardly matters, but I'm curious.

- Warren