This article was first published in Rouleur Issue 144

"Do you see this hat?" asks Lidl-Trek rider Toms Skujiņš. He is wearing a yellow beanie with an embroidered cone of Belgian frites on the front. "I got this through Twitter."

Skujiņš is known for interacting with his 18,400 followers online, sharing self-deprecating posts about racing, life off the bike. And his love of potatoes. In 2022, a Belgian fan – an organiser of the World Potato Congress – invited him for a tour of a relative's spud factory. "It was quite close to where we were staying in Bruges. We drove over, did a tour of the factory," he says. "Long story short, he made me an ambassador of the World Potato Congress, and I [later] did a remote speech there, in one of the congresses happening in Ireland. It was super cool."

In almost any other sport, this would be unheard of: an elite athlete visiting a fan's potato factory for the hell of it. But social media is connecting riders with fans in surprising ways, as cyclists across the peloton are sharing carefully curated photo dumps (Wout van Aert, Mathieu van der Poel, say), training reels (Tadej Pogačar) off-the-cuff racing vlogs (Victor Campenaerts), power data (Jonas Abrahamsen), hotel reviews (Magnus Cort), dance moves (Alison Jackson), dog content (Demi Vollering, Lotte Kopecky), and even cleaning videos (Chloé Dygert).

These riders, of course, are famous for their racing and results, not for their Instagram posts. But social media is giving fans a glimpse of who they really are; a privileged look at what the life of a professional cyclist is like. Social media is part of the mechanics of cycling: a means of bringing in fans, fame – and, crucially, the sponsorship money that the sport depends on. Compared to the days of Eddy Merckx or even Tom Boonen, cyclists today are encouraged – perhaps expected – to maintain a strong, likeable digital presence on social media. Behind every image of a flat white or beautiful mountain road, there is a greater force at play. How, then, is social media changing cycling – and how are cyclists navigating a world where content is king?

Represent

"[A cyclist's] first job is to be an athlete, and the best pro cyclist they can be – but social media is definitely part of that game," says Thomas Vanautgaerden, director of athlete marketing and partnerships at The Team (formerly known as Wasserman Cycling). He is sitting in his office in Belgium with Julian Alaphilippe's rainbow-striped World Champion bike hanging on the wall behind him. "The sport is changing quite fast. In the last few years, there's been more focus on things outside of performance: it's also about connecting with fans, telling the right stories – and ultimately that creates value for partners. Cycling is a sport that depends almost entirely on sponsorship money. Partners dictate everything."

The Team has a roster of predominantly WorldTour and ProTeam clients, which includes some of the biggest names in the sport: Julian Alaphilippe, Lotte Kopecky, Jasper Stuyven, Tim Merlier, Kim le Court. Around 75 per cent of clients are male. The agency handles and negotiates riders' contracts, Vanautgaerden explains, but an increasing part of their offering is to support riders on how to navigate social media. "We don't run their social media. It's a collaboration," he says. "We just help them to be more consistent and more effective, so that it's not a burden for them."

The golden goose, says Vanautgaerden, is authenticity. As well as the wins, fans want to see the journey, the setbacks, the mundane daily life: how riders train, eat, sleep, rest. "It always has to be in their own voice. In cycling, one of the biggest draws is that connection to the fans, so we never want to do something which feels too produced… There is value in that connection with fans, and ultimately, that creates a real value for the riders."

Teams too are harnessing this growing appetite for behind-the-scenes content. "Now that people have access to the real lives of cyclists, I don't think they'll ever want that to go away," says Johannes Manson, marketing and communications director for EF Education Easypost and EF Education-Oatly. Manson and his "small but mighty" team of six work across Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and YouTube, using the latter to produce insider race footage, for example, or longer-form, cinematic insights into how riders train at home. "Social media is the main tool we can tell a story with," he says. "It's a place for us to stand out, differentiate ourselves and tell the story of our riders."

It is no coincidence that many of the riders on EF's squad are active on socials themselves. Australian cyclist Harry Sweeny runs his own YouTube channel. Former EF rider Alison Jackson is one of cycling's most creative social media users, and Giro d'Italia winner and Olympic champion Richard Carapaz has 848,000 followers, his own website and online shop where he sells personalised kit. Then there's ultra-distance adventure rider Lachlan Morton, with 200,000 followers on Instagram and an appeal which extends well beyond the WorldTour racing calendar.

Morton leads the team's "adventure channel" called Far Beyond (previously known as the Alternative Calendar), now joined by Axelle Dubau-Prévot. "We never have to tell Lachlan what to do – he always has ideas himself," says Manson. "Lachlan's been a huge part of the team's brand identity. The Alternative Calendar is something people really care about, because they can't see themselves racing the Tour de France, but they can see themselves riding through the American West."

EF's Alternative Calendar is understood to have been influential in securing the team's partnership with Rapha, and is a "big draw for partners generally," says Manson. This is key. Last year, WorldTour teams like Arkéa-B&B Hotels and Ceratizit folded after their sponsors pulled their funding, while Intermarché-Wanty merged with Lotto Dstny. But clearly, EF are doing something right: EF Pro Cycling and Cannondale have funded the team since 2015, with Cannondale signing a rare open-ended sponsorship deal in 2023.

Sponsors still want wins, says Manson, but using social media to tell the story of the team – and therefore its partners – also provides an important return on investment: exposure to a large, engaged cycling fanbase all year round. "We make sure that whatever we do on social also promotes our brands in a meaningful and constructive way. That's a big reason why our partners are with us – because they want our fans to know what they do and have a positive association with those brands."

New kids on the block

No team knows this better than Unibet-Rose-Rockets. Founded by ex-pro Bas Tietema and Devin van der Wiel from a YouTube project in 2023 – the pair rose to fame delivering pizzas at the Tour de France – The Rockets, as it is known, has taken its content producing firepower forwards into the world of professional cycling. Its 25-strong media and marketing team is cycling's largest, says Van der Wiel, allowing them to document the team's journey in full, build a dedicated fanbase, and streamline the production of content for partners. "In the beginning, we were just a content team that no one knew about: 11 unknown riders, racing at the lowest level. But big companies like Unibet, Garmin and Cannondale were sponsors of the team. It's just because of the eyeballs we could attract," says Van der Wiel. The team's early race videos, for example, sometimes gained more views than the official broadcast footage. "We have something new and interesting for sponsors, because we could create our own media outlet, rather than depending on traditional media like other teams did."

Crucially, the team's media output has allowed The Rockets to create what Van der Wiel calls a "sustainable brand": a team with its own, permanent name, a cleaner jersey with fewer brand logos, and greater independence. This "fan-first approach", which also involves organising in-person meet-ups, is key to the sustainability of the sport, he believes. "We want to do something that's not just for the brands, but for the fans," he says. "If teams have their own identity and tell their story, then people have something to choose from, and you can really follow the season through the lens of a team."

The Rockets' content is geared towards a non-fanatical cycling audience that "love[s] an underdog story". It is playful: in-depth, feature-length videos about the journey behind the races, shareable, self-deprecating posts; a look at the good and the bad. Last year, with his permission, they published a clip of Lukáš Kubiš crying after Paris-Roubaix. "It's important to show that as well, because people can feel it with you. You create a more emotional connection [between fans] and the team," explains Van der Wiel. "It's an attention industry, so you need to grab the attention of as many people as possible. We do it with a great story."

"In cycling, you lose 99 per cent of the time," agrees Mitchel Minnaard, the team's head of communications. "It's even more important to choose your own storylines."

When we speak, however, the Rockets has just recorded its first WorldTour win, as 2026 signing Dylan Groenewegen picked up a sprint victory at the Ronde van Brugge. Both Groenewegen's results – and his 555,000 Instagram followers – have given the team a huge boost. The Rockets' video about the signing led to around 15,000 new subscribers, says Minnaard, while Groenewegen's profile has propelled the team into the mainstream and contributed to a new partnership with Rose bikes. Crucially, his wins have given the Rockets greater credibility, says Van der Wiel: "It's a milestone in our journey. It's confirmation that we're not only a media team anymore, but also a cycling team that can perform at a high level."

The fame game

Nothing is more important than performance, teams agree – and in any case, the best-performing riders tend to have the biggest followings. But like Groenewegen, a star rider with a large personal following is a big asset to a team. When Demi Vollering signed for FDJ United-Suez in 2024, for example, it contributed to high-profile collaborations with both Nike and Specialized, which replaced long term partner Lapierre as the team's bike sponsor and is understood to contribute to Vollering's €1 million salary.

Alison Jackson has both results – including her iconic 2023 Paris-Roubaix win – and a following of 118,000 on Instagram. She started producing her famous dance videos on TikTok in 2019. "I would ask fans if they were fans because of the bike racing or the dance moves, and I would get a 50-50," she says. After winning Paris-Roubaix and dancing at the finish, her following really took off. "Also, the way that I won was aggressive – it took on the character of what Paris-Roubaix is all about: resiliency, attacking, taking things into your own hands."

When Jackson left EF last year, ProTeam St Michel–Preference Home–Auber93 pounced on the opportunity to sign her. Jackson brought results, experience and an appetite to win races. "When we knew we had an opportunity to talk to Alison about possibly joining the team, we went all in," says deputy general manager Charlie Nerzic. "First of all, we've signed a cycling champ that we value as a champ. We believe she is one of the strongest athletes in her field with tremendous experience and a mindset we absolutely embrace as a team. Of course, she is also a social media specialist, and this is a mega bonus."

Jackson's signing has raised the team's following, forged connections with fans and been instrumental in securing new sponsorship deals. Looking to promote Canadian cycling, Premier Tech came on board in November 2025, while Skratch Labs was announced as a nutrition sponsor in February this year. "The fact that we have Alison and other US and Canadian riders helped, also with Cannondale and SRAM," says Nerzic. "This is something we are trying to grow – to build bridges between North America and France."

For all the value of her social media, Jackson insists that she continues to use hers for fun. "I'm not doing social media like a marketing person with a marketing plan. I just love storytelling," she says. "I don't think any athlete is expected to be a content creator – they're expected to be an athlete first, and in some ways, you can amplify your story."

Side hustle

Vanautgaerden, though, encourages athletes to build a "personal brand" on social media, which provides additional income streams and, crucially, acts as a form of insurance against the short and unpredictable nature of a career as a professional cyclist. Clients Greg van Avermaet and Philippe Gilbert are good examples, he says, both retaining prominent brand partnerships, with Gilbert also being a Eurosport commentator. "Any pro cyclist knows that at any given time, their career could come to an end. Only a lucky few can keep on riding until they're 40," he says. "Their own social media and personal brand is something cyclists can carry over in later years and across the teams they ride for. It's the only thing they actually own."

But for some, exposure to a large, public audience is not always a good thing. In 2020, Quinn Simmons was temporarily suspended from Trek-Segafredo after making "divisive, incendiary and detrimental" statements online. Simmons and the team later apologised. The same year, Canyon SRAM rider Chloé Dygert was also made to apologise after liking a series of discriminatory posts on X. "I apologise to those who felt offended or hurt by my conduct on social media," she wrote in a statement. "I am committed to keep learning and growing as an athlete and a person."

At last year's Vuelta, Wout van Aert posted a picture of an anti-Israel poster in his weekly photo dump, which was swiftly removed. "For sure [riders] will have their own opinions, but in the political landscape it's not always wise to share those views with a large audience," says Vanautgaerden. "I can't think of a team that could impose that. I think it's just common sense."

Skujiņš, though, has expressed vocal support for Ukraine online, which has been celebrated by fans. "I feel very much for the Ukrainian conflict, because I grew up in it, I saw it, my family lived it. For me, it's very close to home," he says. "I will never shy away from expressing my opinion."

Riders, says Skujiņš, are given training by the team on how to use socials. By and large, riders are given freedom to post as they wish (although wearing clothing from a competing brand is a big no-no). There is no requirement to post, or even to have a social media account. "[The team] produce the content. For sure they are happy to help us and will encourage us, but they will never force us."

Van der Wiel, Manson and Jackson all agree with Skujiņš: there is no contractual requirement for riders to create content. But according to Vanautgaerden, this is common. "There are definitely teams who put clauses into their contracts – not so much the number of posts or the number of interactions, but just to play along and represent the team on social media," he says. "The sport runs with sponsor money, and if you're a pro cyclist, you're essentially a billboard on wheels. Social media is part of the equation."

"I've had a social media clause in the majority of my contracts," says Heidi Franz, pro-rider and vice president of women's cycling advocacy organisation The Cyclists' Alliance (TCA). "From the beginning, it was always part of my job as a professional cyclist, and I also saw it as one of the only ways to develop my own brand as an athlete." One former team's contract was particularly restrictive, with clauses about how often Franz was required to post and quarterly requirements "that were actually quite difficult to meet". To make matters more complicated, the team did not actually provide photos for the riders to use.

"We had to post about [the team's tyre sponsor] like every two weeks. It was so specific about which sponsor we had to tag, and we had to make it seem genuine. How do I make a post about my tyres genuine?" she says. "It was more the riders' responsibility to keep the social media presence of the team afloat, I would say. We had to speak up, because riders were genuinely getting stressed about meeting these requirements."

Franz joined St-Michel this year, but had previously ridden for a series of teams which had collapsed for funding reasons, including Zaaf Cycling, which folded in 2023, and Lifeplus-Wahoo in 2024. Last year, her new team, Cynisca, announced a "strategic hiatus" after falling short of its $1 million sponsorship goal. For Franz, this ramped up the importance of her own socials. "I found that I needed to [improve] my social media so that if I ended up without a team, I could find sponsors of my own. Or if I had to pivot and choose a different career path in the sport, maybe they'd be more likely to sign me, or brands would be more interested."

According to Franz and Deena Blacking, TCA's interim director, it is not uncommon for riders to be signed to teams because of their social media followings, particularly at lower levels of the sport. "Now, at least in the ProTeam and WorldTour categories, I don't see that happening, but when I was first starting, especially in the US, you definitely saw that happening," says Franz. "We want the sport to be professional and about performance, and as a rider who was so passionate about working hard to get to where I was, it always felt frustrating to see someone get that opportunity just because of their social media."

Even at WorldTour level, Franz, Skujiņš and Vanautgaerden believe that a rider's social media following can still influence a signing. "Take, for instance, the hypothetical situation that a team is interested in two different riders with the same athletic capabilities, but one has a large social following and a good personal brand, and the other doesn't," says Vanautgaerden. "For sure, the team will be more interested in the rider with a social following because, like I said, teams depend on sponsors."

Under pressure

There are, obviously, pitfalls to spending too much time online, especially as a professional athlete. "In an ideal world, you'd want a team that is leveraging the riders' profiles and using social media but is conscious of the impact that it has on their mental health and wellbeing," says Blacking. "It is harder to be an athlete today. You are subject to more scrutiny, and being online, you can't just do the sport. You're also selling stuff, presenting yourself and behaving well, because your movements are being documented in a way that they never used to be."

It is no wonder, then, that riders have the impulse to go dark for periods of time. Franz and Skujiņš both have notifications turned off, with Franz setting time limits on screen time and deleting Facebook and X from her phone. According to Skujiņš, some riders in the peloton use two phones during busy periods: one with social media, one without. When I message Victor Campenaerts for this article, he has an out of office on: "I am on a social detox. If we know each other, you know how to reach me."

The expectation to be online persists, though. And in women's cycling, where funding is smaller, teams have fewer riders, broadcasts are shorter and salaries are lower – meaning riders have greater need to supplement their income with personal partnerships – the pressure to be active online is even greater.

"One of the reasons why I always felt that there was more pressure in a women's team to deliver on social media was because so little of our races were broadcast that we had to make up for that," says Franz. Even when this year's Paris-Roubaix Femmes coverage was cut to just 90 minutes, fans were encouraged to show demand by engaging with riders' social media. "Go and follow a tonne of female cyclists… follow them, like their posts, boost their platform," wrote journalist and broadcaster Orla Chennaoui on Instagram. "It's all a numbers game."

On Rally Cycling, Franz says that teammate Brandon McNulty was able to post a single picture every few months without a caption, whereas the output on the women's side was far higher. "I always felt like the men didn't have to work as hard on their social media presence," she says. Blacking agrees: "Riders like Brandon McNulty or Jonas Vingegaard don't have to do that because fans already see articles about them, see them in print magazines. There's less [need to] make sure they have a social media presence so that people know about them."

To Jackson, it is not the athletes' responsibility to raise the profile of the sport through social media – their job is to race. "I think the product that we have of women's cycling is that the bike racing is awesome. I think more live coverage of bike racing is what is going to promote women's cycling." But it is all interlinked: broadcasting requires funding and sponsors want reach, which comes from socials. So whose responsibility is this? "I don't think the onus is on the athlete at all," says Jackson. "It's all about the teams being able to provide a great content package now."

"They're bike riders first, right? They're not content creators. If they want help with content creation, we'll help them. But we don't dictate what they do on social media," EF's Manson agrees. The solution, he believes, is greater investment in media teams – a shift towards a Rockets-style approach. "The Rockets are doing the best work in cycling right now – what's cool is that everyone has bought into it."

As for the Rockets themselves, they believe that social media can only take a team so far. The fans, ultimately, must come before the sponsors. "If cycling really wants to change, also on the media side of things, then it has to move towards a structure like all the teams having franchise names," says Van der Wiel. "Anyone can put together a big media team, but if you change your colours, your name, every two to three years, then it's really difficult for fans to connect to that."

If social media highlights one thing about professional cycling, it's the role of the fans. There would be no content, no pressure to create it, if there was no audience for it. And these interactions borne on social media – hand-drawn pictures, speculation about riders' racing schedules, potato appreciation – are seemingly meaningful for riders and fans alike. That's why Skujiņš is wearing his yellow hat, and why 'potato ambassador' takes pride of place in Instagram and X bios, before '3x Olympian' or 'riding for team Lidl-Trek'.

"One of the best things about cycling is that we're not just in some stadium where you're not even sure which country you're in," he says. "In cycling, you get close to the people: you breathe the same air, you see the signs on the grocery stores, you know where you are. Cycling is a sport that connects people."