{"id":2109267,"date":"2026-08-24T08:39:51","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T05:39:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2109267"},"modified":"2026-08-24T08:39:51","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T05:39:51","slug":"vuelta-a-espana-slammed-for-influencers-pogacar-pogachita-viral-misfire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2109267","title":{"rendered":"Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a Slammed For Influencer’s Poga\u010dar ‘Pogachita’ Viral Misfire"},"content":{"rendered":"
Organizers of the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a are counting the cost of their controversial collaboration with online influencer Erola Jons.<\/p>\n
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Jons, a Spanish content creator with an online reach of more than six million, was hired by the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a this summer to bring the race to a newer, younger audience.<\/p>\n
The 29-year-old has been acting as a roving \u201cback-stage\u201d TV reporter for the race and is leading a series of post-stage YouTube features.<\/p>\n
However a viral video of Jons hassling Tadej Poga\u010dar after he won stage 1 in Monaco sparked backlash across social media and even on Spanish TV broadcasts.<\/p>\n
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\u2018Pogacita\u2019 goes viral<\/h2>\nJons approached Poga\u010dar in the now infamous \u2018Pogachitar\u2019 interaction after the stage Saturday.<\/span> (Photo: Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a YouTube )<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
In Saturday\u2019s video, Jons is hunting after some juicy content with Poga\u010dar as he prepares for the post-stage presentations.<\/p>\n
She approaches a changing area in the enclosure behind the podium while Pogca\u010dar is being zipped into his first red jersey of La Vuelta.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy do you hyperventilate every time you see me,\u201d she shouts toward him, before Poga\u010dar\u2019s UAE Emirates-XRG press chief steps in to ask her to wait for an interview.<\/p>\n
Jons wasn\u2019t deterred.<\/p>\n
She again approaches Poga\u010dar as he climbs out of the changing area and walks toward the podium.<\/p>\n
\u201cPogachita congratulations! Why do you hyperventilate every time you see me?\u201d she asks.<\/p>\n
Poga\u010dar is clearly perplexed by the intrusion. The area behind the podium is typically an oasis of relative calm that\u2019s kept clear of media reporters.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat? What is that?\u201d Poga\u010dar asks Jons.<\/p>\n
\u201cI breathe 24\/7,\u201d he says, before walking off.<\/p>\n
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The interaction was subsequently clipped up and spread across social media.<\/p>\n
Only the commentary will not have been of the type that Vuelta organizers hoped for. [The clip can be viewed at the bottom of this post \u2013 ed.<\/em>]<\/p>\n
Feeds were filled with debate over the level of access Jons was granted, the nature of her content, and her presentation of the sport.<\/p>\n
\u201cGrotesque,\u201d \u201cdisgrace,\u201d and \u201cembarrassment\u201d are some of the first comments on the controversial clip hosted on the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a\u2019s YouTube<\/em> channel.<\/p>\n
Poga\u010dar one of many caught off-guard at the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a<\/h2>\nJons, pictured here at the premiere of the \u2018La Fiera\u2019 movie, boasts an online following of six million. (Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Jons is one of the leading online influencers in Spain. She boasts three million followers on Instagram and a similar number on Tik Tok.<\/p>\n
According to Marca<\/em>, she built her online empire through hidden-camera pranks that have since become her trademark. She surprise-approaches random men in public and bemuses them with random, sexually charged questions.<\/p>\n
Jons also owns a skincare brand and is a regular feature at red carpet celebrity events.<\/p>\n
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Spain\u2019s online sensation appears to have brought her wildly successful content strategy to her new role at the Vuelta.<\/p>\n
Her roving reports have been led by off-key comments unrelated to the race. Many of them appear to be without knowledge of the racing context nor the characters she speaks to.<\/p>\n
For example, minutes before the \u201cPogachita\u201d interaction on Saturday, Jons approaches a Netcompany Ineos soigneur<\/em> while he waits for Josh Tarling. The big Welshman just rocketed to third-place on the stage.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are here to distract the journalists? Are you here to win, or to distract me?\u201d she asks the staffer. \u201cBecause you\u2019re cute, you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
Marca<\/em> reports she continued in a similar tone while she stalked after Poga\u010dar.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to ask him if he\u2019s that fast in private too,\u201d she laughs to the camera.<\/p>\n
She later continues:<\/p>\n
\u201cLook at him, who would guess he\u2019s ridden 200km?\u201dshe said, referring to the day\u2019s 9km TT.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI don\u2019t know how this guy is doing in the general classification, but in mine he\u2019s first.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jons sparks backlash: \u2018A lack of respect\u2019<\/h2>\nErola Jons has been granted room to roam by Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a officials.<\/span> (Photo: Gruber Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
It didn\u2019t take long for Jons\u2019 content to catch attention online and spread to the inner workings of the sporting media.<\/p>\n
Prominent Eurosport<\/em> journalist Laura Meseguer called out the Vuelta for the hire of an influencer whose content is so far removed from the sport.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe matter is serious,\u201d Meseguer wrote. \u201cTo summarize. Many women have been fighting for years to expand our space in a male sport, so that we are treated with respect and have the same opportunities as others.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a serious skip that a person with no knowledge of the sport is hired whose content will be based on this series of sexist comments from which women have been fleeing for centuries!!!<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt is a lack of respect for us, for the professionals who are here and especially for the cyclists. No one has to put up with being treated as an object, neither women nor men,\u201d Mesegeur wrote.<\/p>\n
Later Sunday, RTVE\u2019s Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a commentator Carlos de Andr\u00e9s voiced his support for Meseguer.<\/p>\n
Speaking live on the Spanish channel\u2019s race broadcast, he branded the video \u00a0\u201cridiculous\u201d and called on the race to rethink its new hire.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fact that they want to hire an influencer is fine by me, but they have to be careful, especially considering what women have fought for to prevent these kinds of sexist comments,\u201d De Andr\u00e9s said. \u201cI hope the organization reacts.\u201d<\/p>\n
Velo<\/em> reached out to the Veulta a Espa\u00f1a for comment on Monday. Their response is documented in a follow-up post here.<\/p>\n
[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Untitled-design-15.jpg”] Jim Cotton Updated August 24, 2026 09:04AM Organizers of the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a are counting the cost of their controversial collaboration with online influencer Erola Jons. Jons, a Spanish content creator with an online reach of more than six million, was hired by the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a this summer to bring the […]<\/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-2109267","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\/2109267","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=2109267"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2109267\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2109267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2109267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2109267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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![\"Erola](\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-2259954193-1200x800.jpg?width=3840&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\")
![\"Poga\u010dar,](\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Vuelta-Espana-2026-Stage-1-0603-1200x801.jpg?width=3840&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\")