Across the globe, sports competitions and teams are constantly searching for novel ways to attract different audiences — especially young people’s attention. But the Vuelta a España’s hiring of a female influencer, whose social media content centers on flirting with male strangers, has backfired badly.The Spanish race, the third and final Grand Tour of cycling’s season, enthusiastically announced at the start of the race that Catalan creator Erola Jons would be broadcasting live from the race’s official YouTube, Facebook, X and Twitch channels during each of the 21 stages.Jons, 28, was granted a near-access-all-areas pass, allowing her to film behind-the-scenes content and speak with the protagonists — and their staff — during the race.It went very wrong from the start.
Una vuelta por La Vuelta con Erola Jons para disfrutar de los mejores momentos del backstage 🙌✨https://t.co/QLvzlxsA31#LaVuelta26 pic.twitter.com/qOmcr5tdho
— La Vuelta (@lavuelta) August 22, 2026Evidently possessing very little cycling knowledge, Jons’ behavior and comments towards members of the race, including the race leader Tadej Pogačar, whom she referred to as ‘Pogachitar’, were viewed by many as crass and sexist.On stage three, the Vuelta partially climbed down, restricting Jons’ access to riders and their entourage and instructing her to tone down the nature of her content.But the race appears unmoved by its decision to give Jons such a prominent role in its online coverage, with its stance doing very little to calm what has developed into a furious mainstream debate, especially in Spain.Broadcaster Laura Meseguer, who is one of cycling’s leading female voices, warned in a column in El País that as sports look to social media creators to further their appeal, “it’s necessary to adopt greater responsibility and reflect deeply on the intended audience and the price of reaching them.”She added: “We must ensure that the cost does not erode the progress women have made in this industry, or devalue the sport and its athletes in the pursuit of entertainment and ‘likes’.”Who is Erola Jons?Jons might be a largely unknown figure outside of her home country, but she’s one of the most-followed Spanish influencers on social media, with 3.2 million followers on Instagram and 2.9 million on TikTok.Her content is mainly focused on chatting up unsuspecting males in public, whose reactions are secretly filmed. Her subjects typically respond to her unexpected — and often awkward — flirtation with confusion.Jons, as demonstrated by her number of followers, has enjoyed success through her prank videos, and has also appeared on TV and attended various fashion shows. She even authored a book that was published at the start of this year called ‘How to Get Your Crush’ (‘Cómo conseguir a tu crush’).In comments reported by Spanish website Mundo Deportivo, an unnamed Vuelta official said that Jons’ social media style is exactly why they approached her to work at the race.“We hired Erola, a content creator who makes this type of content, knowing the content she makes, and that’s why we hired her, along with her sense of humor and the language she tends to use on social media,” they said.But it was precisely that type of content that provoked the controversy.Jons pictured at the premiere of film “La Fiera” in Madrid earlier this year (Juan Naharro Gimenez/Getty Images for Disney)What has Jons done?At the end of the opening stage, which was held in Monaco — cycling’s Grand Tours often start away from the host country — Jons was filmed entering the podium area and declaring: “We’re live, we’re important.”When wondering if she was allowed onto the podium truck — she wasn’t — Jons said, “Better to ask for forgiveness than ask for permission, no?”Jons then proceeded to ask an uncomfortable-looking Netcompany INEOS staffer: “Excuse me, are you here to win, or only to distract the journalist? Me?”In another interaction, Jons walked towards Josh Tarling, who finished third on the stage and was presented with the race’s white jersey, awarded to the best-placed young rider in the general classification.After Tarling headed in a different direction away from Jons, she said: “I don’t think he likes interviews, much less mine. But I have 20 stages to win him over — don’t worry, I’ll win him over quickly.”Tarling is competing in the race just over one week after the death of his 19-year-old brother Finlay, who was killed by a non-road race vehicle in the Volta a Portugal.Shortly afterward, when Pogačar left the podium truck, Jons asked the world champion and Tour de France winner in English: “Pogachitar, congratulations. Why do you hyperventilate every time you see me?”Pogačar replied, “What?” Jons clarified that it means “you breathe,” to which Pogačar responded: “I breathe 24/7.” She ended the interaction by telling the camera that Pogačar “is a lot better-looking close-up, guys.” She later said: “I don’t know how this boy is doing in the general classification, but in mine he’s first.”Jons surprises Pogačar after stage two. (Grab: Vuelta a España / YouTube)In other comments on the livestream, Jons said that “so much beauty is distracting me.” She added: “My god, it’s so hot, seeing so much tight-fitting lycra.” She also said: “Yep, he’s changing, (the jersey) is a little transparent and it’s not bad. I like it.”When some young women passed her by, she assumed that they were the partners of some of the cyclists. “I suppose these people are family members or girlfriends, no? Well, we’ll see about that at the end of the stage.”What has the reaction been?Meseguer, who works as a journalist and presenter for Eurosport and writes for several English- and Spanish-speaking publications, first expressed her dismay in an Instagram comment on Sunday, lamenting how Jons was disrespecting female professionals.“It is a serious mistake to hire someone with absolutely no knowledge of the sport, whose content will be based on this series of sexist comments that we women have been trying to escape from for centuries. No one should have to put up with being treated like an object, neither women nor men.”Meseguer found support from across cycling. Carlos de Andrés, the lead commentator on RTVE, Spain’s public network, said: “It’s absolutely fine by me that they (the Vuelta) want to hire an influencer, but you’ve got to be careful. Above all, with what women have fought for to avoid these sexist comments, what they’ve had to put up with for so long, I find it incredible. I hope the organization react to all of this and see it’s not the best idea that they have had.”At the start of her live broadcast of the second stage, also in Monaco, Jons joked that the audience had been waiting to see what drama she would cause this time around. “Don’t worry – we’re going to keep things the same. We broke the internet yesterday.”She was only on air for 10 minutes, however, for the backlash had been too strong. Social media was raging, and even UAE Team Emirates XRG, Pogačar’s team, complained about Jons’ behavior. The Vuelta had to react.What has the Vuelta done in response?On Monday, as the race intended to head to the southern French ski station of Font-Romeu, only for biblical rain to force the stage’s abandonment, the Vuelta told multiple Spanish media outlets that Jons could no longer interview cyclists at the race unless she asked permission from their teams. Similarly, she would no longer be permitted inside the podium area.But Jons will stay as part of the race, with her role now focused on interviewing fans. The Vuelta organization has, however, told Jons that she must moderate her language and tone.In a statement to AS, the Vuelta organizer said that they had “asked for forgiveness” from the UAE team, adding that “we don’t want there to be talk of sexism.”In additional comments to Mundo Deportivo, a Vuelta official said: “People have misunderstood it, so we’re going to direct the stream in a different light without offending anyone. This isn’t a war of sexes between men and women, and neither is it about reducing the importance of the traditional media outlets.”The Athletic contacted both the Vuelta and Jons’ management, requesting either an interview with the influencer or an explanation of how she landed the role. Neither has responded.Do other races have social media influencers?It’s not uncommon at cycling’s biggest races, including the Tour de France and Giro d’Italia, to see cycling and fitness influencers recording content from the roadside, with the race organizers themselves occasionally collaborating with content creators on their various channels.Since 2023, the Tour has had an official partnership with TikTok, with the social media platform present in the race’s publicity caravan that passes ahead of the peloton two hours in advance.But no other race has gone to the same lengths that the Vuelta has with Jons to reach new audiences.As the race finally approaches its home turf of Spain, Jons appears likely to stick around as an employee of the race, albeit in a reduced role.The hiring of the Catalan content creator, however, has only served to enrage the public, rather than enticing them to watch the race.
