Triathlon cycling is one component of a triathlon event. In a triathlon, athletes who have great endurance and strength run, swim, and cycle in succession, typically without stopping, and attempt to do these activities in as short a total time as possible.
The cycling portion of a triathlon is the second portion, with running being last.
Except in Olympic triathlon and ITU World Cup races, triathlon cyclists are forbidden from drafting during the competition, which is quite different than in most other cycling races such as the famous, grueling Tour de France. Drafting is a distance racing technique used in any distance racing sport in which racers line up just to the inside or outside of and just behind the racer in front of them in order to reduce drag in a slipstream–that is, to reduce wind resistance. Reducing wind resistance allows a cyclist to stay just behind and within easy passing reach of the man in front of him while expending less energy than he does, with the objective being to pass him when the time is right while being able to store up more energy for the final push to the finish line.
In cycling, the biggest group of tightly packed cyclists is called the “peloton” (French for “ball” and the root of English words like “platoon”), with the cyclists riding in straight-line formation, each one of them except the leader drafting behind the one in front of him, called the “paceline”. Triathlon events except the ones mentioned above do not approve of the formation of a pelaton and thus do not permit drafting.
Therefore, triathlon cycling is more closely resembling of individual time trial cycling, in which each cyclist races contre la montre–French for “against the watch”–instead of trying to beat out opponents directly. A triathlon is supposed to be about total overall time and the concern among race organizers is that a peloton increases the risk of a mass collision which is seen as going against the triathlon’s competitive intent, which is intended to be another version of a “race of truth” (the nickname for the individual time trial races) which relies entirely on the athlete’s own strength, endurance, mental toughness, and will power.
Triathlon bicycles are made from strong, lightweight composite materials and designed to be aerodynamically advanced and include handlebars called “aero-bars” or “tri-bars”, specially designed aerodynamic wheels, and steep seat-tube angles which not only improve aerodynamics but also take it easy on the muscle groups needed for the distance running that follows the cycling.
Towards the end of a triathlon cycling event most cyclists enter into a higher cadence (the number of revolutions of the crank per minute), a technique known as “spinning”. This is done to loosen up the muscles needed for running and to overload the slow-twitch muscles used in distance running so that they don’t get a buildup of lactic acid which causes severe cramping and sluggishness.
The typical racing cadence for cyclists is 80-120 rpms, but for doing “check outs” (short bursts of near-sprint speed used especially to psychologically deflate other racers) they can take it up to 170 rpms.
