The "cute dogs" in the title is obviously clickbait but at least one cute dog does show up in the article:

> Vermeulen produces a popular YouTube series starring his dog, Sir Willie the Wiener, riding on his back.

Not the video you asked for, but that is one cute dog! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqhhadyMntk

Lifetime Grand Prix are the biggest right now. They have a series of 7 races that they are doing great media on. Start with Unbound, it’s the most prestigious

I like it already!

Unbound athlete guide [1]:

"Special Note: The Flint Hills region of east-central Kansas is an extremely remote area. You will rarely pass through any towns, and there are no convenience stores between checkpoints. Always be aware of the distance to the next checkpoint and be prepared to travel that distance with the supplies you carry. Participants are solely responsible for their personal well-being, will have to make their own informed decisions, and suffer the consequences of those decisions. Please be aware... if you break down or become injured, it is YOUR responsibility to contact your support crew to come get you. DO NOT CALL US. WE WILL NOT COME RESCUE YOU. EVENT PROMOTERS AND SPONSORS ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR SAFETY AND WELL-BEING. If you sign up for this event, make sure you have a support crew with a well thought out emergency backup plan. If you do not feel you are prepared to meet such a challenge, please consider a shorter route option."

Support crew info [2]:

"Support Crews are NOT allowed on course, except to pick up a rider who is abandoning the event. IF A SUPPORT CREW VEHICLE IS SPOTTED ON COURSE, THEIR RIDER WILL BE DISQUALIFIED. Providing support to a rider while on course goes against the self-sufficiency spirit of this event. It is unfair to other participants, and therefore will not be allowed."

[1] https://www.unboundgravel.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/202...

[2] https://www.unboundgravel.com/support-crews/

About the dogs, from what I've seen the social media presence for these US gravel pros are a much bigger part of their income compared to pros in the European road racing circuit. Being a privateer is advantageous if you are a "top social" rider. This is probably comparable to what has happened in College sports where the top college athlete influencers are pulling in huge amount of eyeballs and income from their social media.

> But I was totally riveted by the road races at the Olympics this year.

In that case you would probably like the one day flanders classics in the spring as well as Paris-Roubaix and Strade Bianche.

Not explicitly, I subscribe to a couple people who do cycling and bikepacking related videos, and some of them also race gravel or MTB.

But for some reason (and maybe I'm lying to myself), they in general don't have a huge audience, so it feels less than following pro sports and more "following this rando on youtube, but the rando happens to have a couple thousand viewers and also does pro/amateur sports".