An experienced racing team is betting on cycling as YouTube’s next big sports craze

When the 2026 Giro d’Italia kicks off on May 8, one of the competing teams will embark on a unique journey through the Italian countryside. In their magenta-and-blue jerseys, the Unibet Rose Rockets will be hard to miss — and the YouTube content they’ll film across their 2,150-mile will make them even more noteworthy.

From a cycling standpoint, the Rockets are an experienced squad. Team members like Dylan Groenewegen, Wout Poels, and Victor Lafay know what it takes to win big races. The Rockets’ joint YouTube channel, however, is what really sets them apart. With regular uploads that reach 100,000 subscribers, the upstart outfit is betting that they can do for cycling what athletes like Livvy Dunne have done for sports like gynmastics.

The mainstream cycling world initially resisted the Rockets’ rise. The brightly-colored crew applied to enter the Tour de France, but they were not offered one of the available wildcard slots. Luckily for them, the second-most prestigious bicycle race in the world displayed a more progressive attitude. On social media, the Rockets accepted their invitation to the Giro d’Italia with (of course) a video.

On platforms like YouTube, sports content has become too big of a category to ignore. Soccer hubs regularly rank among YouTube’s 50 most-watched channels, and major matches like the Super Bowl and the World Cup Final have become creator spectacles. And this is only the beginning — streamers like Amazon, YouTube, and Netflix are primed to pick up more exclusive sports broadcasts moving forward.

As these sports become more visible around the world, there are more opportunities for creator-powered content brands to emerge. In a video on the Unibet Rose Rockets YouTube channel, team owner Bas Tietema encouraged the team’s fans to watch the Giro d’Italia on HBO Max.

If you’re still asking “why cycling,” keep in mind that sports with international appeal — such as tennis and golf — have become some of the most popular pastimes on platforms like YouTube. Cycling can certainly reach global audiences, and this spring, the Rockets will see just how far their bold kits, beloved videos, and big wheels can take them.