The Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a is quietly turning down the volume on its collaboration with Erola Jons after her controversial exchange with Tadej Poga\u010dar sparked a backlash across social media and provoked a complaint from UAE Emirates-XRG.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, the online influencer caught Poga\u010dar off guard after the stage 1 time trial as she worked as a behind-the-scenes \u201croving reporter\u201d for the race broadcast and YouTube channel.<\/p>\n
She calls him \u201cPogachita\u201d and asks \u201cwhy do you hyperventilate when you see me?\u201d in a cringeworthy clip that has since gone viral.<\/p>\n
You can read more on the bizarre interaction here.<\/p>\n
Jons, 29, is a noted online influencer with a fanbase of more than six million followers. Her flirtatious public pranks can generate millions of views in one day.<\/p>\n
She brought that same sexually charged strategy to her broadcast role with the Vuelta.<\/p>\n
Only her string of awkward encounters with unsuspecting riders and male staff didn\u2019t sit well with the cycling world.<\/p>\n
Her output for the race this weekend sparked a huge backlash from fans and media pundits alike.<\/p>\n
Vuelta clamps down on Jons after Pogachita palaver<\/h2>\n
UAE Emirates-XRG also wasn\u2019t happy after Poga\u010dar was made the target of Jons\u2019 machinations. The team confirmed to Velo<\/em> \u201cwe expressed our opinions\u201d on the \u201cPogachita\u201d incident to race officials.<\/p>\n It seems the organizers took note, and hastily rethought the brief for Jons.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s no surprise. The Vuelta has been attempting to lure Poga\u010dar, the undoubted superstar of pro cycling, to its race for years.<\/p>\n He\u2019s not a rider to upset.<\/p>\n Paula Galan, head of communications for the race, told Velo <\/em>on Monday it\u2019s restructuring the collaboration with Jons to prevent further furor.<\/p>\n \u201cThe organization has revised its approach and strengthened content coordination [for Jons],\u201d Galan told Velo<\/em>. \u201cFrom now on, interactions with riders and teams will take place according to a pre-agreed plan, respecting their schedules, venues, and criteria for participation.\u201d<\/p>\n Jons will have her access restricted \u2014 she was previously able to roam as she wished \u2014 and her content strategy will be subject to approval.<\/p>\n She will, however, remain on the race for all 21 stages.<\/p>\n Galan stressed to Velo<\/em> that Jons is an independent operator and seemingly distanced the social media star from the race\u2019s wider organization.<\/p>\n \u201cErola Jons is participating in La Vuelta through an entertainment format designed to bring the competition to new audiences, incorporating her personality, sense of humor, and the language she typically uses on social media,\u201d Galan told Velo<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cThis format complements\u2014but is independent of\u2014the race\u2019s news coverage and is carried out with the utmost respect for the work of accredited media outlets, teams, riders, and all the professionals who are part of La Vuelta.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n [analyse_source url=”https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/vuelta-a-espana\/vuelta-restricts-influencer-erola-jons-pogacar-content\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/dfVxo1gYsVLR0lcd7.jpeg”] Jim Cotton Updated August 24, 2026 10:35AM The Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a is quietly turning down the volume on its collaboration with Erola Jons after her controversial exchange with Tadej Poga\u010dar sparked a backlash across social media and provoked a complaint from UAE Emirates-XRG. On Saturday, the online influencer caught Poga\u010dar off guard […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,71],"class_list":["post-2109245","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-velo-outsideonline-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2109245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2109245"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2109245\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2109245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2109245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2109245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}