What is a breakaway in cycling?
A breakaway is a rider or group of riders who ride away from the main group, the peloton, and try to stay ahead until the finish.
On most road stages, the first part of the race is a fight to get into the breakaway. Once a group is clear, the peloton usually lets it go and controls the gap, then speeds up in the final kilometres to catch it.
Riding in the breakaway is hard work, because the group is smaller and each rider spends more time in the wind than they would in the peloton. Its chances depend on its size, the strength of the riders, the terrain and how much the teams behind want to chase.
Breakaways offer opportunities to riders who would not win otherwise. They bring television time for the sponsor, points for the mountains classification, and sometimes stage wins, especially in the second and third weeks of Grand Tours, when the peloton is tired.
Teams of riders who are not sprinters or GC leaders often aim to place one rider in every breakaway. Our race pages show stage winners, including those who won from the breakaway.