From the outside there is a big expectation from the public. They see us and say if we don’t win it, or even if we finish second, then it's a failure. Most other teams would love to finish anywhere on the podium. The hardest pressure was my first year at the Tour, after just two years as a sports director (DS). In 2012 Froomey finished second in the Tour and Dave (Brailsford) decided that I would do the Vuelta with him that year, to build up confidence with him and the group and target the next Tour de France. In 2013 everybody, everybody, was expecting to see Froomey win the Tour de France. No question. And I thought, ‘Wow. It’s going to be my first Tour de France as a DS, and straight away boom, I needed to win it. Personally I felt a lot of pressure and I think it was probably one of the most beautiful experiences as a DS I’ve ever had - but also super stressful. At one point, after one week, I’d lost that much weight - I stepped on the scales and I was just one kilo heavier than I was when I was a bike rider, at my Tour weight! I went from 75 to boom! The team doctor said to me, ‘come on Nico, you need to eat something.’ But the riders and Dave helped me. I didn’t want to show any stress, but inside… wow, it was hard! But after that, the next Tours were easier. I was under so much pressure and then after that it was easier. I said, poof, I did it, I did it well, and it gave me a lot of confidence. I told myself I need to work hard, as hard as I did, but I knew I was putting myself under too much pressure and that wasn’t going to help. I feel like I cope better now.
Whilst most were focussed on Chris' attempting the Giro-Tour double, it was more like a Tour-Vuelta-Giro-Tour quadruple. What goes into managing a rider's form and overall health with a schedule as demanding as this?
There’s plenty of stuff we needed to look at to make sure we could keep his body ready to race, but also his mind. Mentally he had to be ready. When you think about most of the bike riders, they just target one Grand Tour. It was a balance for Chris to still be hungry. Race a little, but still be ready to start every Grand Tour. Tim Kerrison and the performance group worked really hard to get the best race programme for him. The most complicated of the three in a row he won was the Giro. He needed to train hard in January, February, March, and in Europe the conditions can be quite poor. We know Chris performs better when it’s hot, so the run in to the Giro was really complicated. We hoped that he would not get sick and the staff did a fantastic job. Everyone was spot on with him.
At what point did it become apparent to you that Geraint would win the Tour?
We started with two protected riders and in my mind Chris was number one, Geraint number two, because of what Chris has done. So few bike riders have done what he has done. You have to look at the facts. He just came out of winning the Giro and Geraint had never done a top 10 in a Grand Tour - although we knew he had the capacity to do that. For some key stages at the beginning of the race I had to make a call - I said OK, let’s go in this order. But always, we strived to support them both. And when Geraint took the jersey it was fantastic. I said, ‘Wow, that’s a proper victory.’ He didn’t go in the break, or try a sneaky attack. When he attacked he went away, he dropped everyone. Wow! Then the next day, when he won on Alpe d’Huez, then we knew he had the whole package to win. The way he won it, he followed the moves and boom, counter attack, end of story, I’m here, I’m winning a second straight stage. If your engine is really on the limit I believe you can’t produce that kind of effort. At that point most of the team, and Chris himself, said that at least the team can win. Chris was in top shape but we didn’t know how long he would be able to hold that performance after the Tour de France, Vuelta a Espana and Giro d'Italia, but when we saw this we started to believe in Geraint.
Much was made of Geraint and Chris competing against each other for team leadership at Le Tour. Would you say that this was more media hype than truth?
Absolutely. Some questions were pretty intelligent, like ‘Do you think they could fall out?’ And yes, it could have happened. But what we have built in Team Sky is a team - that’s really important. In general we have one goal, and everyone works towards that goal. Here, we wanted to support two riders. They have known each other since the beginning, I’ve known them since the beginning, we rode together in 2010, and there were no issues between the two guys. We talked quite openly over breakfast or at dinner, and we are quite connected altogether. It just never happened, but it was pretty heavy. There were so many questions. At one point even Froomey said, ‘Look, I know it’s boring. But we have two cards to play and we have the team for that. And then the road will decide.’ And that’s what happened.
While you are a celebrated Sports Director, you were a professional cyclist and mountain biker yourself. Talk about your own racing career, the highs and the lows as well as how your experience as a rider has shaped your directing career.
I’m quite curious. I started mountain bike racing and then quite quickly I went to the national team and then I drifted a little on the road and kept racing mountain bikes, then turned pro quite soon, so I didn’t have that much experience on the road. I like road racing though, particularly for one thing. On a mountain bike, if you’re not one of the best, you cannot win. It’s impossible. You need to be super technical and super strong. But in a road race, if you’re smart and you listen in the bunch and to your team, even if you’re not the best climber, if you’re smart enough you can still win a race. It’s like playing chess. Of course if you’re the best rider, you have more chances to win. I just won one bike race. But I developed myself as a smart rider, one who wanted to beat the best, and this brought me happiness. Put me on a big mountain and I will be dropped. And yet I won a stage in the mountains, because I went in the breakaway. It’s like chess or poker.
You live in Andorra. Do you consider yourself more French or Spanish?
This is a good one! I have only lived in Andorra for one year now but we have put our kids into an Andorran school. They have three systems - the French system, the Spanish system, and also the Andorran. And we have put them in an Andorran school, so they learn French and Catalan. I’m not super nationalistic; most of my career I was doing my job and my passion outside of France, even if I still lived there, and now I’ve moved into another country, Andorra. So of course I feel French but not hugely patriotic. But where I am from, in the south west, our mentality is close to that of the Spanish. We go to bed later, we have dinner at 9pm, sometimes 10pm! So I feel quite close to that way of life.
In closing, and while 2018 has been another successful season for Team Sky, how do you relax and unplug from such a demanding and stressful job?
For us it never stops. The racing stops and then all of us try to cut contact a little bit for three weeks, but it’s quite hard. We’re always connected nowadays. After three or four weeks the guys need their racing program ready for the next season. But I’m normal. I just like to spend time with my family and friends and because I’m away so often, I like to spend time at home - make the breakfast for the kids and take them to school and then go back to my house. It’s fantastic in the winter in Andorra - maybe I would go snowboarding for a few hours and then go back and have an hour on the bike. And I love mountain biking in the spring, outside in the forest. There are no sounds, no cars, no pressure, no speed, no power meter. You just ride with the essence of the bike.
Header image courtesy of INEOS Grenadiers Cycling Team.
