'Approachable, engaging, and insightful': Remembering Nicolas Portal

Nicolas Portal’s easygoing character and instinctive tactical insight made him one of cycling’s best team directors

(Image credit: Corbis via Getty Images)

When, in 2017, I was researching and writing about the tactical side of bike racing, Nicolas Portal was an obvious person to talk to for an insight into strategy at the Grand Tours. I contacted Sky’s press office, who asked for a list of questions they could send on to him. A couple of days later, they said he was happy to talk and sent his number.

When I called, Nico – I think everyone in cycling called him that – he’d just got in his car in Andorra and had a long drive ahead of him. “Don’t worry, I’ll put you on speaker. I’ve got plenty of time to talk,” he told me. “It’s strange, nobody really ever asks me about tactics and it’s one of the parts of the sport that I really love.”

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