Drafting Power Savings Calculator

About this calculator

At speed, aerodynamic drag accounts for the majority of the power a cyclist has to produce. Riding in another rider’s slipstream removes much of that wind you’d otherwise have to push through, cutting the power required to hold the same speed — and the size of that saving depends on exactly where you sit in the group and how large the group is.

Cyclists in pacelines, team time trials and criteriums use this to understand how much energy sitting in the draft saves compared to pulling on the front, which is also why breakaways and crosswind echelons form the way they do in road racing.

This calculator takes your speed, your position in the group, and the group size, and returns the watts you save along with what that means for your effort or speed.