CRUCIAL FOR SUCCESS. Nobody should feel surprise if they see Jelena Erić’s team-mates celebrating like with no other when she won, with skill and intelligence, at the final stage of the 2022 Baloise Ladies Tour or stage three of the 2022 Vuelta a Andalucía. It’s just payback to the the work from someone who devotes herself more than hundred perfect to her team-mates when needed, while also showing talent when given opportunities wherever her leaders are not present. As she starts her fifth season in Blue colours -with at least an additional two left, through December 2025-, she’s absolutely irreplaceable.

(ALMOST) PERENNIAL CHAMPION. She’s worn the Serbian flag around the world, even well before her first contract with a UCI-registered outfit, thanks to her countless road race and time trial titles obtained, almost uninterruptedly, since 2011 -aged just 15-. She’s also represented her country at nine World Championships -two as a junior, then seven as a pro- as well as at races all across the WorldTour, from the big spring classics to events in China, Australia, the US or even Costa Rica, where she came close to opening her victory account in her first pro season.

ALMOST ANOTHER SPANIARD. Owner of a degree in Architecture -a discipline she left aside for sports, her current big passion-, Jelena was already living in Spain before joining the team, more precisely in La Nucía, in the Alicante province, where she spends the whole season and has become a fully-fledged member of its community. Other than perfect Spanish (she learned it two decades ago), she also speaks English, some Italian and even some Russian, which again speaks loads about her privileged brain. She also shared teams in 2018, at Cylance, with Sheyla Gutiérrez, who supported her en route to a contract with the Telefónica-backed squad.