Erola Jons has become one of the key names at the start of La Vuelta for reasons that have little to do with what happened on the bike. The Catalan influencer, brought in by the organization to generate content aimed at new audiences, sparked a strong controversy with her comments to Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), which were labeled sexist. The controversy has already had consequences: she will continue working at the race, but the La Vuelta organization has decided to remove her from direct contact with the cyclists.
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The measure represents a significant change compared to what happened during the start of the competition in Monaco. Erola Jons will not have access to the mixed zone, nor to the team buses or other areas where she could interact directly with the riders. The organization has also asked her to adapt the tone and style of her posts to the context of a top-level sporting competition.
What Erola Jons said to Pogacar
The origin of the controversy lies in a video recorded during the start of La Vuelta in Monaco. Erola Jons brought to the race the type of content that has allowed her to gain millions of followers on social media, usually based on approaching men and trying to flirt with them in a lighthearted tone.
On this occasion, one of the protagonists was Tadej Pogacar.
“Pogachitar, why do you hyperventilate when you see me?” she asked the Slovenian cyclist several times. In another sequence, she suggested he take her “for a ride” and also made comments about his physique.
The images quickly went viral, but the impact was very different from other content usually published by the influencer. Part of the cycling world, as well as journalists (both men and women) who follow the sport, considered that treatment towards a rider during a professional competition inappropriate.
Who is Erola Jons, the influencer who is a hit on TikTok and Instagram?
The huge impact of the episode has also led many fans to wonder who Erola Jons is and why she was working for La Vuelta.
Erola Jons is a 28-year-old Catalan influencer who has built a huge community on social media. She has around 3.2 million followers on Instagram and 2.9 million on TikTok, platforms where she has developed much of her career as a content creator.
Her specialty is videos related to personal relationships and flirting. Many of them are recorded with a hidden camera and show the creator approaching strangers on the street and trying to flirt with them through conversations framed as entertainment.
Her big breakthrough on social media came precisely thanks to one of these videos. A recording in which she appeared flirting in a library reached 40 million views in a single day, becoming a turning point in her career.
Until then, Erola Jons was studying Business Administration and Management, but the success achieved on digital platforms eventually opened new professional opportunities for her.
From social media success to working at La Vuelta
Erola Jons’s career has not been limited to TikTok or Instagram. The content creator has worked with José Mota on TVE, participated in the horror series Rabia, and has also walked in Fashion Week.
Additionally, she published the book ‘Cómo conseguir a tu crush’ with Editorial Planeta, focused not only on romantic relationships but also, as she has explained herself, on issues related to self-esteem.
Her incorporation into La Vuelta meant entering a different field. The organization bet on Erola Jons as part of its strategy to bring cycling closer to a younger audience and reach users who do not necessarily consume traditional broadcasts or regularly follow this sport.
It is precisely here that the conflict arose. Transferring her usual content format to a professional setting and approaching some of the best cyclists in the world in that way has provoked numerous criticisms.
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Carlos de Andrés criticized Erola Jons’s comments
One of the strongest reactions came from Carlos de Andrés during the broadcast of the second stage on Teledeporte. The RTVE journalist publicly supported the criticisms previously made by specialized journalist Laura Meseguer and condemned the content featuring Erola Jons and Pogacar. “The video I just saw seemed so ridiculous to me…,” De Andrés said.
The journalist wanted to clarify that his criticism was not directed against the presence of influencers at La Vuelta, but against the content produced and the privileged access the creator had to certain areas of the competition.
“If they want to hire an influencer, that seems fine to me, but they have to be careful, especially with what women have fought for to avoid those sexist comments,” he pointed out.
De Andrés ended his intervention by demanding a response: “I hope the organization reacts.”
Laura Meseguer had previously expressed a similar stance. The journalist considered that what happened was a lack of respect both towards the cyclists and towards the professionals who for years have tried to combat certain behaviors within the sport.
“Many women have spent years fighting to expand our space in a male-dominated sport, so that we are treated with respect and have the same opportunities as others. It is a serious mistake to hire someone with no knowledge of the sport, whose content will be based on this series of sexist comments that women have been trying to escape for decades,” she began writing on social media.
“It is a lack of respect towards us, towards the female professionals who work here, and above all, towards the cyclists. No one should have to endure being treated like an object, neither women nor men,” she added.
Erola Jons celebrated the impact of her video with Pogacar
Erola Jons’s initial reaction was very different. After the impact of her encounter with Pogacar, the influencer was pleased with the reach achieved on social media. “Yesterday we broke the Internet!” she celebrated after the second stage.
She also addressed those who were waiting to see how she would react after the controversy: “I know many of you were waiting for me to come back to see what mess… and don’t worry because we’re going to keep it going, of course.”
However, her content already began to show some changes. Her space was reduced and Erola Jons focused her attention on interviewing fans, without approaching the podium ceremony or reproducing the type of interaction with riders that had caused the controversy.
Now, the decision made by La Vuelta establishes a much clearer framework for the rest of the competition.
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La Vuelta keeps Erola Jons, but without access to the cyclists
The organization has opted for a middle ground solution. It will not dispense with Erola Jons, who will continue generating content, but it will restrict the areas she can access.
The organization’s intention remains to combine coverage by specialized media with new entertainment formats capable of bringing cycling to different audiences. The controversy with Pogacar, however, has forced a redefinition of the limits of that approach.
