road bicycle racing Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on Road surface, paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional sport, professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and ...

an autobus or grupetto is a group of cyclists who form a large group behind the leading

peloton In a road bicycle race, the peloton (from French, originally meaning 'platoon') is the main group or pack of riders. Riders in a group save energy by riding close ( drafting or slipstreaming) to (particularly behind) other riders. The reductio ...

. The autobus forms on mountain

stages Stage or stages may refer to: Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper * S ...

when non-

climbers Climber may refer to: *Climber, a participant in the activity of climbing *Climber, general name for a vine *Climber, or climbing specialist, a road bicycle racer who can ride especially well on highly inclined roads * Climber (BEAM), a robot that ...

can't keep up and drop off the back of the peloton during the climb. These riders are generally sprinters or

domestiques ''Domestiques'' is the Delgados' debut album. It was released on their own label, Chemikal Underground, on 28 October 1996. The title (literally "servants" in French) is a reference to the support team for the team leader in road bicycle r ...

unconcerned about their finishing positions in the mountain stages. Their primary concern is beating the elimination time to ensure their survival in a multi-stage race such as the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

. As such they are amongst the best descenders, pushing to make up enough time to stay in the race.Ward, T. (2018, Summer). Lead out First person: In praise of... the gruppetto. ''Cyclist (The Thrill of the Ride)'', (76), 47-48. If the autobus arrives outside the elimination time, the organisers may extend the elimination time if the autobus is larger than 20% of the riders. However, if a rider is dropped from the autobus in this situation they will almost certainly be eliminated unless they have suffered an accident, in which case they may be exempted. The elimination time varies depending on the organisers; in the Tour de France there are differing coefficients depending on the difficulty of the stage. These coefficients are a percentage of the stage winner's time.Haake, Bjor
"Latest Cycling News for July 24, 2007"
cyclingnews.com 24 July 2007. Retrieved 21 February 2010 Due to the common interest in survival, the mood in the autobus often has a greater sense of camaraderie than in the main peloton. Riders often assist one another with food and drinks despite riding for separate teams. It is sometimes referred to as "the laughing group". Over the years there have been many riders who have become well-known for taking control of the group, shepherding the group over the line, including

Eros Poli Eros Poli (born 6 August 1963 in Isola della Scala, Veneto) is an Italian former professional racing cyclist of the 1990s, notably employed as Mario Cipollini's lead-out man in bunch sprints. Biography Poli won the gold medal in the Team Time ...

and

Bernhard Eisel Bernhard Eisel (born 17 February 1981) is an Austrian former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2001 and 2019 for the , , , and teams. Following his retirement, he worked as an analyst and presenter for Eurosport ...

References

External links

{{cycling-stub Road bicycle racing terminology