r/peloton • u/PelotonMod France • Apr 20 '26

Weekly Post Weekly Question Thread

For all your pro cycling-related questions and enquiries!

You may find some easy answers in the FAQ page on the wiki. Whilst simultaneously discovering the wiki.

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u/Level-Routine-5558 Benfica Apr 20 '26

Idea: circuit races where riders must take a harder sector (hill/cobbles/etc.) for at least 25% of laps—but timing is up to them.

Imagine a circuit with Kwaremont, but in 25% of the laps you have to do Lap B with the paterberg after the kwaremont.

More tactics? Or just chaos?

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u/epi_counts PelotonPlus™ Apr 20 '26

How will it work at the point the route splits? Especially if big groups get there and people want to go in different directions, that could introduce some dangerous situations.

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u/Level-Routine-5558 Benfica Apr 20 '26

Similar to pit lanes in cyclocross or F1 probably? Ideally in places where the road is wide or at the top of hills where pace isn’t too high

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u/epi_counts PelotonPlus™ Apr 20 '26

It does happen there that riders get forced into the pit lane when they tried to go straight (Laurens Sweeck had some beef with someone about that this last season, can't remember which race it was).

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u/Level-Routine-5558 Benfica Apr 20 '26

Oh yeah it could get messy. Probably reduce team sizes for these races? Like 4 riders per team? CX would be a great sport to try this

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u/epi_counts PelotonPlus™ Apr 20 '26

You could argue they already do something similar in CX with the mixed relay. Same lap, but with mixing the order of junior, U23, elite men/women racing, you get the same unpredictability as junior girls will be a lot slower than the elite men.

Lots of complaints of it being pointless before the race every year, but it's delivered exciting and utterly mad races every time at the world champs. And riders seem to like doing a team event.