Originally Posted by Sixty Fiver

When you are really fit a good measure of that is to be able to do a solo 25 miles in an hour (out and back)... the amount of energy to go 30 miles in an hour is exponentially higher and sustaining that for an hour will put you in world record territory.

In the peloton, the drafting riders do not have to work as hard and with people taking turns pulling, the entire group can move at a pace that would be nearly impossible for a solo rider.

Mind you, there was a guy named Merckx who led through an entire stage of 170km and kept it cranked up in the 25 mph plus range for the entire time (4 plus hours) and he went on to set the hour record by riding almost over 30 miles in one hour and said this was the hardest thing he had ever done.