Nicolas Portal Wiki – Biography
Nicolas Portal was a French directeur sportif and professional road bicycle racer. He was born in Auch, France. He missed much of the 2009 season because of problems with cardiac arrhythmia and retired as a professional cyclist following the 2010 season.
Nicolas Portal Age
He was 40 years old.
Career
He started cycling as a mountain biker and was successful on youth and under-23 level in the late 1990s, before switching to road cycling. He rode as a stagiaire with AG2R Prévoyance at the end of 2001 and 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. 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. 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. Portal was part of the team that saw Oscar Pereiro win the 2006 Tour de France, a race he finished even though he suffered a serious crash on stage 15. He missed the entire 2009 season with cardiac arrhythmia, but rode a full final season with Team Sky in 2010.
Even without any knowledge of the English language, Dave Brailsford hired Portal as directeur sportif for Team Sky following his retirement as an athlete, stating he made his decision due 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.
Family
Froome paid his respects on Twitter, saying: “My thoughts are with Nico’s wife and children tonight. He was the kindest, happiest guy I knew and always lived life to the fullest. Rest In Peace Nico.”
“We are all overcome with grief at this terrible news and would ask everyone to respect the family’s privacy at this difficult time,” the statement read.
Portal was married and the couple was blessed with two children. However, details about his wife and kids are not revealed but will be updated as soon as the information is available.
Cause of Death
He was already suffering from heartbeat issues which even led him to quit his passion. On 3rd March 2020, he suffered a severe heart attack during afternoon at his home in Andorra. He is survived by his wife and their children.
Tribute
Froome was among many to pay tribute.
“My thoughts are with Nico’s wife and children tonight. He was the kindest, happiest guy I knew and always lived life to the fullest. Rest In Peace Nico,” he wrote on Twitter.
Portal competed in the Tour de France six times as a rider and retired in 2010 after diagnosis of an irregular heartbeat.
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He was part of the Sky set-up which helped Bradley Wiggins become the first British rider to win the Tour in 2012 and had a growing influence as Froome (2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017) and Geraint Thomas (2018) won the biggest prize in cycling before Colombian Egan Bernal took the honours for Team Ineos last year.
The role of a directeur sportif – sporting director in English – can be seen as similar to that of a head coach in football.
During races directeurs sportif follow the peloton in a car, communicating with riders about tactics and passing on any required information, as well as liaising with organisers.
“Can’t quite get my head around it, it’s too sad. Nico was so talented, warm, genuine and always there when I needed him,” Thomas wrote on Twitter. “He was more than my colleague, he was my friend.
“My thoughts are with his wife and children, who he put above everything else. I’ll always remember him dancing with his little girl in Paris in to the early hours. He was too young to be taken away from them. Nico, I’ll miss you mate, you were one of the good ones.”
Can’t quite get my head around it, it’s too sad. Nico was so talented, warm, genuine and always there when I needed him. He was more than my colleague, he was my friend. pic.twitter.com/cW6DUidgwW
— Geraint Thomas (@GeraintThomas86) March 4, 2020
Net Worth
Update Soon.