When winning has penance...

Tadej Pogacar is starting to remind me of Eddy Merckx, and this is not a compliment – as would be logical – but a contradictory feeling, possibly unsportsmanlike and somewhat mean : athletes who win continuously, with apparent ease, without emotion, end up seeming to me like tyrants from whom I only hope a liberator will unseat them (unless they are called Nadal or Indurain, ours ).

Eddy Merckx, the Cannibal , won five Tours and 34 stages. Far from applauding and admiring the champion, seeing him ride through France in yellow with such ease made my interest in each Tour disappear as soon as I saw that, yet another year, the Belgian cyclist was going to dominate the grand tour.

Merckx syndrome haunts me: if I already know who's going to win from the start, I turn off the TV.

Why are we unfair to certain champions and end up criticizing them if they win everything, fulfilling their duty? It's not envy—impossible in these cases—but an internal mechanism that attributes the sin of winning over and over to the champions, instead of holding competitors accountable for not delivering the excitement we crave from a Tour.

The Merckx syndrome haunts me. As soon as a competition is decided at the halfway point—or before, in the case of the current Tour—I lose interest and stop attracting viewers, that crucial criterion in today's sport. The thrill of close finishes disappears. The list of personal examples is long and very unfair, because attributing responsibility to the champion is the most uneducational thing in the world.

Handball is a good example. When did FC Barcelona lose its last La Liga title? Fifteen years ago! Unless you're a handball addict, the competition is limited to just seeing if Barça loses a game...

Toni Bou, an admirable athlete who instills impeccable values. The truth is, he's won 19 X-Trial world titles and 18 GP Trial titles, or 37. I can't even imagine how demoralizing Toni Bou must be for his competitors...

Less overwhelming but equally discouraging for a motorcycle voyeur is Marc Márquez's season . He's heading for his ninth world title and exudes such superiority that it's hard, even for those not a fan, to get interested in racing.

Sports are increasingly becoming television. Broadcasts have become so popular thanks to technology that one can be captivated by synchronized swimming, rowing, or a sack race. But if there's no excitement and we all know how the movie will end—in theory, sports are mostly thrillers—we penalize the undisputed champion.

Paradoxes of the human condition...