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Via numerical simulations, we investigate the dynamics of cylindrical drops on flat substrates. In agreement with the common understanding, in the limit of Stokes flow and negligible drop deformation, the drop’s centre-of-mass velocity scales linearly with the applied force and with the second power of drop radius. In this paper, we go a step further and perform a detailed study of dissipation loss inside the drop. An important result is that the dominant part of viscous dissipation arises from the region below the drop’s centre of mass. Based on this observation, we propose a simple analytic model which allows capturing the dependence of the steady-state drop velocity on the equilibrium contact angle. Simulation results are in good agreement with the predictions of this model.