Rouleur targets Chinese readership of 200,000 within 12 months

Matteo Cassina, Chairman and Publisher of Rouleur, has shared further details of the plans the brand has for its latest expansion, launching into the Chinese market.

Reflecting on recent years, in an email addressing ‘strategic evolution at Rouleur’, Cassina comments: “We’ve grown our global audience very significantly, increased traffic, driven commercial revenues, and brought thousands of people to our events—defying the prevailing trends across the industry. What began as a niche cycling publication is now a global multimedia platform with unmatched depth and reach in our sport.”

“The past five years have been among the most disruptive in the history of the cycling industry, but we believe bigger changes are yet to come.

“These will create new champions and put further stress on those businesses unable to adapt. Innovate or die is the key message I repeat to our staff daily, and this means taking risks, making mistakes and trying new avenues. This also means failing at times – it’s part of the process.”

New horizons. New ambitions.

The U.S. and China now represent the most exciting frontiers for Rouleur:

1. Over 50% of new traffic and members now come from North America
2. In China, through our new strategic partnership with Titan Media Group —the country’s largest sports media network — we are launching:
3. A comprehensive digital media rollout, including activation across major Chinese social media platforms and the Titan App, which reaches over 20 million users
4. A fully translated, printed Chinese edition of Rouleur, starting with the upcoming issue
5. A new office for our agency, Conductor, in Taipei, starting next month, to support brands entering and managing their growing market in China.

Speaking about the future, Cassina states: “Our goal is ambitious yet clear: to build a readership of 200,000 in China within the first year.”

“We discussed much of this strategy at our Rouleur Live event in November 2024, where the opportunities in Asia—and particularly China—stood out as critical for the future of cycling media. Our 2024 ‘The Road: Ahead‘ talks on China can be viewed online.

“We are not simply adapting to global shifts—we are helping define them. And with your continued partnership, we’re more confident than ever in the road ahead.

The news comes as the business gives a global overview of the past 18 months and explores the specifics of its key markets.

Speaking as he shared the news, Cassina commented: “I’m proud to share that Rouleur is:

• The world’s largest printed cycling magazine by number of readers (not copies printed)
• One of the biggest and most engaged global membership platforms in cycling, with over 27,000 paid members and 115,000 digital members
• Delivering 14 million newsletters read in 2024 alone, and growing
• Expanding across multiple languages, platforms, and continents

Strategic refocus – print in Spanish and Italian

Over the past four years, Rouleur has expanded its reach with print editions in Spanish, by partnering with Volata magazine, and Italian with the launch of Rouleur Italia, distributing over 150,000 copies across these regions.

While this move was bold and well-intentioned, the response from readers and advertisers hasn’t reflected the level of support needed to sustain these editions. To that ended the partnership with Volata magazine—the Spanish publishing partner—ended at the end of 2024. And from June 2025, we will also cease printing the magazine in Italian.

Cassina directly addresses this move, stating, “We want to be clear: this is not a step backwards. It’s an intentional pivot to focus on where we can deliver the most value and impact. We’ve learned from this chapter and have no regrets.”

Italian readers will continue to receive a printed magazine in English and a fully translated digital version of all eight issues of its international edition, with the publisher remaining deeply committed to Italian brands, events, races, and readers.

A backdrop to the world of today: Context is key

Reflecting on the history and journey of the brand, Cassina highlights that, “Nearly two decades ago, Rouleur began as a small British print magazine. Since then, we’ve undergone a bold and deliberate transformation, driven not only by vision, but by resilience to a fast-changing world underpinned by 4 mega trends:

1. COVID
2. The rise of China
3. The global crisis of printed media
4. AI and its future role in marketing and content

“The past five years have been among the most disruptive in the history of the cycling industry, but we believe bigger changes are yet to come. These will create new champions and put further stress on those businesses unable to adapt.

“Innovate or die is the key message I repeat to our staff daily, and this means taking risks, making mistakes and trying new avenues. This also means failing at times – it’s part of the process.”

“Marketing budgets were slashed, bike and accessory sales dropped sharply after an initial COVID-driven spike, and skyrocketing costs of paper and shipping devastated the traditional media landscape. Many of our competitors in cycling media saw their models implode under the weight of these pressures.”

The wider media landscape

“Media is an integral part of our ecosystem, and without any quality storytelling, it is very difficult to engage with consumers/fans.

“We expect further consolidation, and we are positioning ourselves to become a much bigger partner to athletes, teams, race organisers, brands, territories and readers.

“AI will also drive further disruption and opportunities to those who understand it and implement it well. None of our content is currently written by generative AI, but we extensively use machine learning to optimise our content, interactions and drive growth of engagement and subscriptions.”