La Vuelta will retain influencer Erola Jons for the rest of the 2026 race but has removed her direct access to riders after a backlash over her opening-stage livestream in Monaco.
According to Spanish sport outlet Marca, the Spanish influencer who formed part of the race's media team is now under a revised protocol introduced on Monday, meaning Jons no longer has access to the mixed zones at the start and finish or the team bus area, nor can she approach riders elsewhere around the race. She must also get a team’s approval before interviewing anyone and has been told to adjust the tone and style of her content.
The changes follow her livestream around the opening stage, during which she made inappropriate comments to Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), conducted an ill-informed interview with Josh Tarling (Netcompany Ineos) and had a cringeworthy encounter with a team staff member. Jons, who has more than six million social media followers, had received a microphone and access to areas beyond those normally open to accredited journalists.
Before approaching stage winner Pogačar, Jons said: “I’m going to ask him if he’s that fast in private too.” She later called him “Pogachitar” and asked: “Why do you hyperventilate every time you see me?”
Pogačar replied, “What?” and then, “I breathe 24/7, thanks,” before continuing to the mixed zone. He said at the following day’s press conference that he did not clearly remember the encounter.
Jons also showed she had paid absolutely no attention to the race, saying she didn’t know where Pogačar sat in the GC after the time trial, but adding: “But in mine he’s first.” While he collected his award, she said: “Look at him, who would think he’s ridden 200km.” The stage was just over 9km.
Her remarks about Tarling drew added criticism because his younger brother, 19-year-old Finlay Tarling, had died following an incident at the Volta a Portugal a week earlier. Jons said Tarling appeared not to like interviews, “especially mine”, but that she had another 20 stages to “win him over”. Her comments gave no indication that she knew about his recent bereavement.
Elsewhere, Jons looked through a gap towards a truck where riders were changing and said: “If they’re changing, even better, that’ll boost the audience.” She also approached an Ineos staff member and asked whether he was there to win or distract the journalists, including her. He walked away saying, “Oh my God.”
Jons is known for hidden-camera prank videos in which she tries to ‘pick up’ men. She has clearly brought that style to La Vuelta, making the organisation’s decision to hire her all the more bizarre.
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Journalists condemn La Vuelta’s decision
Eurosport journalist Laura Meseguer described Jons’s appointment as “a serious blunder” in a comment on social media, and subsequently in a column in Spanish outlet El Pais, rejected the treatment of riders as objects.
“It makes me angry because this isn’t journalism,” Meseguer said. “It is extremely difficult for women to be taken seriously in this world, only for us then to be reduced to this.”
The experienced journalist said that women had spent years battling for respect and equal opportunities within the sport of cycling. “No one should have to endure being treated as an object, neither women nor men,” she said.
Televisión Española commentator Carlos de Andrés supported Meseguer, saying: “Laura Meseguer is absolutely right to be angry; you cannot disrespect journalism in this way or trivialise information in a race like La Vuelta.” He also questioned why Jons could enter restricted areas unavailable to many specialist journalists.
Commentator Jose Been added on BlueSky: “What I hate about this entire saga is that another woman who has dreams of working in cycling, who tries hard to swim against the still predominantly male stream to make it, is beaten to the line by this person who doesn’t give sh*t about cycling. Another woman was denied a chance to live her dream.”
Unipublic, the race organiser, said Jons had been hired to provide humour and entertainment, rather than journalism, as part of an attempt to reach younger audiences. The revised protocol changes her access to riders, while the collaboration will continue through the final stage.
Jons did comment on the reaction she received from stage one saying she will “keep giving it energy” on the race’s channels. As of Monday, no apology or acknowledgement of the criticism from Jons had been reported. La Vuelta’s restrictions remain its formal response.
