Every time someone asks me, why do I watch sports? I like to respond with the words of the great Argentine soccer player Jorge Valdano: “Football is the most important of the least important things.” I might even add something: sometimes sport allows us to witness something extraordinary, something so improbable that it feels like magic. And that’s what Egan Bernal did last Sunday when he crossed the line of the Tour de France in Paris. He didn’t win, but I think finishing this race was something more extraordinary than him when he won it in 2019.
The Tour de France is not easy. Cyclists must cover 3,500 km in 21 days. Usually around 45 km of steep climbs (to give a reference to how difficult this is, Mount Everest is 6.3 km) and they must follow a very specific diet, control their weight, exercise and train to be fit for the race. This year, the runners only had two rest days during the entire race.
In 2019, Bernal became the first South American and the youngest cyclist to win the Tour de France, at just 22 years old. In 2020, he won the Giro d’Italia. Sports insiders predicted that Bernal would be the next great figure, the Messi of cycling. But an accident changed everything. In January 2022, Bernal was training outside of Bogotá for the upcoming season when he crashed into the back of a parked bus at a speed of 50 km per hour. He broke 20 bones and both of his lungs were punctured. There was no certainty that he could walk again, much less ride a bicycle.
After five surgeries to treat injuries to his spine, foot and right hand, and more than a year of recovery, Bernal returned to professional cycling in Argentina earlier this year, only to fall and injure his knee. A few weeks later, he joined his team, Ineos Grenadier, to compete in the European season. Everyone was shocked when he was chosen to be part of the team in the Tour de France. “If I get to Paris, I’ll be happier than when I won the Tour,” Bernal said at the start of the race.
His career was average at best. He never made it to the podium and finished 136th. However, to return to cycling’s most prestigious and challenging competition after 18 months of an accident is incredible. Finishing it is extraordinary. But very few paid attention or celebrated. I have no idea why. I guess cycling is less culturally relevant than other sports and fans tend to pay much more attention to winners than other athletes.
Sports is also a multi-billion dollar business. For example, European soccer has become the playground for investment funds, oligarchs and oil states. Some cricket broadcast contracts are worth $3 billion. And according sportico, a digital platform covering sports industries, the median value of an NFL franchise is $4.1 billion. Typically, recovering from injury and illness is not a highly profitable event.
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There are great comeback stories in sports history. Michael Jordan won the NBA Finals with the Chicago Bulls after playing minor league baseball for two years. Muhammad Ali returned to boxing, against Jerry Quarry in Atlanta, after being suspended for refusing to join the Army. In soccer, there have been some extraordinary comebacks. Like when Eric Abidal returned to play for Barcelona after overcoming liver cancer. Or when Danish player Christian Eriksen played a game 269 days after going into cardiac arrest at Euro 2020 and had to be resuscitated on the pitch. And Colombian soccer player Linda Caicedo, who leads the coffee team at this year’s Women’s World Cup after surviving ovarian cancer. Extraordinary moments. All celebrated with or without the fans.
For Egan Bernal, finishing the iconic Tour de France, after 21 days on the bike against the best on the planet, is a symbol of his return to health and his career. Sports make me happy, I find them fascinating because they are a reflection of society, our politics and the economy. But mostly, I watch sports because sometimes it shows the most important things in life, like getting healthy and surviving and recovering from a catastrophic accident.
Egan Bernal did not reach the podium, nor did he receive a trophy, but it does not matter: he had already won.
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