Nicolas Portal

Portal at the 2007 Tour de France

Portal was born on 23 April 1979 in Auch, France. His father was a quarry manager and his mother worked as a medical secretary. He started cycling as a mountain biker and was successful at youth and under-23 levels in the late 1990s, before switching to road cycling. He rode as a stagiaire with AG2R Prévoyance at the end of 2001, having been recommended to team manager Vincent Lavenu by a mutual friend.[2] Portal then turned professional with the team for 2002. He rode his first Grand Tour the same year at the Vuelta a España and then competed in the Tour de France for the first time in 2003. He would ride the Tour a further five times, always reaching the finish in Paris.[3] His only professional victory came at the 2004 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, where he won stage 3 with a late attack on the final climb.[4] While individual success was scarce, he established himself as one of the most reliable domestiques in the field. In 2006, he moved to Caisse d'Epargne–Illes Balears.[3][5] Portal was part of the team that saw Óscar Pereiro win the 2006 Tour de France, a race he finished even though he suffered a serious crash on stage 15.[6] He was joined at Caisse d'Epargne by his brother Sébastien, also a cyclist, the following year.[3] He missed the entire 2009 season with cardiac arrhythmia,[7] but rode a full final season with Team Sky in 2010.[8]

Although he could not speak English, Portal was hired by Dave Brailsford as directeur sportif for Team Sky following his retirement as a cyclist, with Brailsford attributing his decision to Portal's "human qualities". For 2013, following the departure of some of Team Sky's leading staff, Portal was promoted to lead sporting director. Under his guidance, Sky riders won six of the next seven editions of the Tour de France, as well as one Vuelta a España and a Giro d'Italia. These victories made Portal one of the most successful sporting directors in the history of cycling.[3] In 2019, after guiding Egan Bernal to victory in the Tour, Portal became the first sporting director to win the race with three different riders since Cyrille Guimard in 1983, having previously won it with Chris Froome four times and Geraint Thomas once.[2]

Portal died suddenly from a heart attack, aged 40, at his home in Andorra on 3 March 2020.[8][9] Following his death, his employer Ineos Grenadiers withdrew from all further races until 28 March, citing the "unique set of circumstances" of Portal's death and the coronavirus pandemic as reasons for the decision.[10]

• Nicolas Portal at trap-friis.dk
• Official website (in French)