Nicolas Portal (23 April 1979 – 3 March 2020) was a French

directeur sportif A ''directeur sportif'' (, ) is a person directing a cycling team during a road bicycle racing event. It is seen as the equivalent to a field manager in baseball, or a head coach in football. At professional level, a directeur sportif follows t ...

and professional

road bicycle racer Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most com ...

. He was born in

Auch Auch (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in southwestern France. Located in the Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie, it is the capital of the Gers Departments of France, department. Geography Localiza ...

, France. He missed much of the 2009 season because of problems with

cardiac arrhythmia Arrhythmias, also known as cardiac arrhythmias, are irregularities in the heartbeat, including when it is too fast or too slow. Essentially, this is anything but normal sinus rhythm. A resting heart rate that is too fast – above 100 beat ...

and retired as a professional cyclist following the 2010 season. He stayed with his final professional team,

Team Sky Ineos Grenadiers () (stylised as INEOS Grenadiers) (formerly Team Sky from 2010 to 2019, and Team Ineos from 2019 to 2020) is a British professional cycling team that competes at the UCI WorldTeam level. The team is based at the National Cyclin ...

, as a manager from the 2011 season. Following the retirement of

Sean Yates Sean Yates (born 18 May 1960) is an English former professional cyclist and directeur sportif. Career Yates competed at the 1980 Summer Olympics, finishing sixth in the 4,000m individual pursuit. As an amateur in 1980, he won the British 25-m ...

, Portal was appointed lead ''

'' of Team Sky for 2013. He died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

on 3 March 2020, aged 40.

Professional career

Portal was born on 23 April 1979 in

, France. His father was a quarry manager and his mother worked as a medical secretary. He started cycling as a

mountain biker Mountain biking (MTB) is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durabilit ...

and was successful at youth and under-23 levels in the late 1990s, before switching to

road cycling Road cycling is the most widespread form of cycling in which cyclists ride on paved roadways. It includes recreational, racing, commuting, and utility cycling. As users of the road, road cyclists are generally expected to obey the same laws a ...

. He rode as a '' stagiaire'' with at the end of 2001, having been recommended to team manager

Vincent Lavenu Vincent Lavenu (born 12 January 1956) is a French former professional road bicycle racer, from 1992 to 2024 he was the general manager of UCI WorldTeam . Professional career Born in Briançon, Hautes-Alpes, Lavenu had been competing as an amateur ...

by a mutual friend. Portal then turned professional with the team for 2002. He rode his first Grand Tour the same year at the

Vuelta a España The Vuelta a España (; ) is an annual stage race, multi-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race primarily held in Spain, while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries. Inspired by the success of the Tour de France and the Giro d'Ital ...

and then competed in the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

for the first time in

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

. He would ride the Tour a further five times, always reaching the finish in Paris. His only professional victory came at the

2004 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré The 2004 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré was the 56th edition of the cycle race and was held from 6 June to 13 June 2004. The race started in Megève and finished in Grenoble. The race was won by Iban Mayo of the team. Teams Twelve teams, conta ...

, where he won stage 3 with a late attack on the final climb. While individual success was scarce, he established himself as one of the most reliable ''

domestiques ''Domestiques'' is the Delgados' debut album. It was released on their own label, Chemikal Underground, on 28 October 1996. The title (literally "servants" in French) is a reference to the support team for the team leader in road bicycle ra ...

'' in the field. In 2006, he moved to . Portal was part of the team that saw

Óscar Pereiro Óscar Pereiro Sío (; born 3 August 1977) is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer. Pereiro was declared the winner of the 2006 Tour de France, after the original winner Floyd Landis was disqualified for failing a Doping (sport), do ...

win the

2006 Tour de France The 2006 Tour de France was the 93rd edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours. It took place between the 1st and the 23rd of July. It was won by Óscar Pereiro following the disqualification of Floyd Land ...

, a race he finished even though he suffered a serious crash on stage 15. He was joined at Caisse d'Epargne by his brother

Sébastien Sébastien is a common French given name. It is a French form of the Latin name ''Sebastianus'' meaning "from Sebaste". Sebaste was a common placename in classical Antiquity, derived from the Greek word ''σεβαστος'', or ''sebastos'', mea ...

, also a cyclist, the following year. He missed the entire 2009 season with

, but rode a full final season with in 2010.

Career as sports director

Although he could not speak English, Portal was hired by

Dave Brailsford Sir David John Brailsford (born 29 February 1964) is a British sports director and former cycling coach. He is currently team principal of UCI WorldTeam , and was performance director of British Cycling from 1997 to 2014. He is also currently ...

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

and a

Giro d'Italia The Giro d'Italia (; ), also known simply as the Giro, is an annual stage race, multiple-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race primarily held in Italy, while also starting in, or passing through, other countries. The first race was organized in 19 ...

. These victories made Portal one of the most successful sporting directors in the history of cycling. In 2019, after guiding

Egan Bernal Egan Arley Bernal Gómez (born 13 January 1997) is a Colombian professional cyclist who rides for UCI WorldTeam . In 2019 he won the Tour de France, becoming the first Latin American rider to do so, and the youngest winner since 1909. At the 202 ...

to victory in the Tour, Portal became the first sporting director to win the race with three different riders since

Cyrille Guimard Cyrille Guimard (born 20 January 1947) is a French former professional road racing cyclist who became a directeur sportif and television commentator. Three of his riders, Bernard Hinault, Laurent Fignon, and Lucien Van Impe, won the Tour de F ...

in 1983, having previously won it with

Chris Froome Christopher Clive Froome, (; born 20 May 1985) is a British professional road racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI ProTeam . He has won seven Grand Tours: four editions of the Tour de France (in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017), one Giro d' ...

four times and

Geraint Thomas Geraint Howell Thomas, ( , ; born 25 May 1986) is a Welsh professional racing cyclist who rides for UCI WorldTeam , Wales and Great Britain. He is one of the few riders in the modern era to achieve significant elite success as both a track and ...

once.

Death

Portal died suddenly from a

, aged 40, at his home in

Andorra Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, is a Sovereignty, sovereign landlocked country on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees in Southwestern Europe, Andorra–France border, bordered by France to the north and Spain to A ...

on 3 March 2020. Following his death, his employer

Ineos Grenadiers Ineos Grenadiers () (stylised as INEOS Grenadiers) (formerly Team Sky from 2010 to 2019, and Team Ineos from 2019 to 2020) is a British professional cycling team that competes at the UCI WorldTeam level. The team is based at the Manchester Velo ...

withdrew from all further races until 28 March, citing the "unique set of circumstances" of Portal's death and the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

as reasons for the decision.

Major results

;2003 : 6th

Grand Prix d'Ouverture La Marseillaise Grand Prix Cycliste La Marseillaise, formerly known as the Grand Prix d'Ouverture La Marseillaise, is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in February around the city of Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in south ...

;2004 : 1st Stage 3

Criterium du Dauphiné Libéré A criterium, or crit, is a bike race consisting of several laps around a closed circuit, the length of each lap or circuit ranging from about 400 m to 10,000 m. Overview Race length can be determined by a number of laps or total time, ...

: 9th Overall

Tour du Limousin Tour du Limousin is a 4-day road bicycle race held annually in Limousin, France. It was first held in 1968 and since 2005 it has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle raci ...

;2005 : 10th Overall

Herald Sun Tour The Herald Sun Tour is an Australian professional bicycle race held in Melbourne and provincial Victoria, sanctioned by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). The first tour was held in October 1952 as a six-day event. It is now held annuall ...

;2006 : 7th Overall

Four Days of Dunkirk The Four Days of Dunkirk () is road bicycle race around the Nord-Pas de Calais region of northern France. Despite the name of the race, since the addition of an individual time trial in 1963, the race has been held over a 5 or 6 day period for ...

Source
ProCyclingStats
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Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Source
ProCyclingStats
/small>

References

External links

*
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Portal, Nicolas 1979 births 2020 deaths French male cyclists Sportspeople from Auch Directeur sportifs Cyclists from Occitania (administrative region)