Bas Tietema’s Unibet Rose Rockets set to race at the 2026 Giro d’Italia; wildcard invite secured
From a social media experiment to the peloton: Bas Tietema hopes everyone will cheer for cycling’s Rockets at the 2026 Giro d’Italia
From a social media experiment to the peloton: Bas Tietema hopes everyone will cheer for cycling’s Rockets at the 2026 Giro d’Italia
In the span of four years, the Unibet Rose Rockets have gone from a social media experiment to a genuine professional outfit. Co-founder Bas Tietema reflects on the whirlwind journey, while discussing what makes his team unique in an exclusive interview with Olympics.com.
Withroad cycling’s Grand Tours expanding from 22 to 23 eight-rider teams this season, there were bound to be some new names on the roads racing on the sport’s biggest stages. Still, it’s hard to believe just how far theUnibet Rose Rocketshave come in such little time.
Founded by cycling-crazed YouTubersBas Tietema,Josse Wesster, andDevin van der Wiel– who first rose to fame by filmingbehind-the-scenes fan contentfor their shared channelTour de Tietema– the team of self-described “content creators, weekend warriors, and elite riders” has risen through cycling’s professional ranks at breakneck speed.
They’ve gone from a quirky experiment in team management to a quirky fan favourite capable of organising massive cheering sections, dubbed “Rockets Corners”, at races like the Amstel Gold Race in just four years. Co-founder Tietema couldn’t be more thrilled.
“[We’re] three guys coming from a YouTube channel, trying to beat the best teams in the world with limited resources, giving people as much as we can and insight into transfers, setbacks, success,” he told Olympics.com.
A professional cyclist in his own right at one time, he views his team’s wildcard invitation to the2026 Giro d’Italiaas yet another step in the right direction.
“We’re getting closer, riding the bigger races, but still trying to do it the same way as how it all started, giving people insight and actually [letting them] be a part of the whole journey.”
It’s a philosophy that’s come to define the Rockets’ “fan-first” media strategy, which aims to prioritise engagement over traditional performance-driven growth – one that’s completely turned the sport on its head.
“We are especially focused on becoming the most followable team and the team that has the biggest fan base.”
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Putting fans first in a bid to build something special
Coming from a background in content creation, Tietema and company knew the value of connecting with an audience. They’d seen first hand what having a loyal following could do, as they went from filming content on the side of the road tohanding out pizzasto the likes ofTadej PogačarandRemco Evenepoelat the Tour de France.
So it shouldn’t come as a shock that when they decided to establish a new professional team from scratch during the 2023 season, they put a huge emphasis on retaining fans and enhancing the team’s visibility.
“With setting up a cycling team or any professional team, you have the possibility to start from scratch and do it your own way,” asserted Tietema. “I think that’s quite a unique opportunity.”
Ultimately, they followed a media model already embraced byfootballand automobile racing, where behind the scenes content, such as “Welcome to Wrexham” and “Formula 1: Drive to Survive”, helped increase interest in specific teams and fan engagement across the sport.
“We are able to create a lot of visibility with the content we produce ourselves with our in-house media team,” said the 31-year-old co-founder. “We are outspoken and we have an offensive way of approaching the sport, [while] trying to be attractive.”
Updates about the team, including race diaries, team announcements and managerial decisions are posted to social media frequently, giving fans rare access to the inner workings of professional cycling.
So far, the Rockets have attracted more than 200,000 followers on Instagram and 121,000 subscribers on YouTube – evidence that the model is working, with more and more Rockets jerseys dotting the roadside during major races.
“Normally it’s an investor or multinational [corporation] who are starting a cycling team, trying to get better riders on board and then trying to get those fans by performing well on the road,” argued Tietema.
“We believe that if we can take people inside our journey, then that could be the product that people are just part of –a team that started in the lower ranks with high ambitions.”
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Climbing the cycling pyramid with one goal in mind
While fan engagement and media production remain at the heart of what makes the Rockets so special, it’s hard to ignore their increasing level of performance at the highest echelons.
When the team was first founded in 2023, they didn’t enter a single UCI World Tour race. The roster included only 13 riders, and their biggest win came at the ZLM Tour – part of the lower-tier UCI ProSeries.
Now, the Rockets are regularly invited to UCI World Tour races and boast a roster that features 30 riders – the maximum allowed – including established stars like Dutch sprinterDylan Groenewegenand climber extraordinaireWout Poels.
They’ve also become an incubator for emerging talent, such as Slovakian national championLukáš Kubišand Czechia’sTomáš Kopecký.
“We are trying to create the best possible sports team that you would like to follow as a fan,” Tietema told Olympics.com. “Performing is a requirement.”
Aside from the injection of talent on the road, the trio of co-founders have been busy beefing up the team behind the team, bringing on German legendMarcel Kittelas a sporting coach and appointingEelco Meenhorst– who helped the Netherlands win four gold medals inrowingat theOlympic Games Paris 2024– as chief sports officer.
“We have a lot of talent and we can create a lot of things by sitting together, but if you want to set up this level of organisation, you need to have people on board with the capacities and background that they have to bring this further.”
Ranked 21st in the UCI team standings heading into the Giro d’Italia, hopes remain high that the team have yet to hit their ceiling. There’s still one dream that Tietema would like to see realised before he is satisfied with what they’ve accomplished.
“Riding the Tour de France is a major milestone that we want to achieve,” admitted the man who does a little bit of everything for the team. “Starting over there with making YouTube videos along the road in 2019, [it] would be a dream to come back there with our team.”
As for what they want to accomplish at their first Grand Tour, Tietema made the following assessment: “Our goal is pretty clear. We want to try to win a stage in the Giro d’Italia.”
ZUMA Press Wire via Reuters Connect