WEDNESDAY 4 MARCH 2020Nico Portal, Team Ineos sport
director, dies aged 40
Nico Portal, right, pictured with riders Chris Froome and Luke Rowe (Getty)
LAWRENCE OSTLERE
Nico Portal, the hugely popular directeur sportif who played a leading role in the dominance of Team Sky
and then Team Ineos at the Tour de France over the past decade, has died at the age of 40. The French
former rider suffered a heart attack at his home in Andorra on Tuesday afternoon.
Portal missed some of the tail-end of his cycling career with cardiac arrhythmia, which accelerated his
decision to move from the peloton to the support car after a career spent with AG2R Prevoyance, Caisse
d’Epargne and Team Sky.
As part of the British team’s management working alongside Dave Brailsford, Portal built a glowing