I don't know if this has been addressed before, but I have yet to see it; and, if it has, forgive my rehashing. I'm an avid daily "sports/fitness" cyclist and am familiar with the principles of pacelines and drafting. However it continues to puzzle me how the peloton consistently catches breakaways, seemingly no matter what their lead.

Is there some added wind displacement from the larger number of riders in the peloton (physics is not one of my strong suits) as opposed to that of the 5 or 6 (working together) in the usual breakaway that makes it so much faster than them, the additional number of riders available to work on the front in the peloton, some weird psychological disadvantage of knowing that 150 + riders are climbing up your back or possibly a combination of any or all of these factors.

Btw, I think (and non-cycling friends have expressed these sentiments also) that considering the lack of interest in this sport in the U.S. as opposed to the rest of the world, that commentators would be well advised to explain this and other idiosyncracies that occur. It's rather disconcerting to be watching as a sizable attack by a number of riders is/has distanced itself from the peloton, only to return from a commercial to find them swallowed up again with no real explanation of how and why it occurred. Maybe aficionados of the sport know the what and how; but, most of us would welcome explanations. This would greatly increase interest and viewership of the telecasts.