March 3, 2020 will forever remain a pitch-black day for Geoghegan Hart: "I'm trying to be a bit more like him"

A press conference for the Tirreno-Adriatico was scheduled for Sunday, as the world always moves on and the race never stops. Tao Geoghegan Hart, as the team leader of Lidl-Trek, was present but his mind was elsewhere. IDLProCycling.com asked him about the pitch-black day that March 3, 2020, will forever be, for him and all the people who loved Nicolas Portal, who has now been deceased for four years.

"Nico" Portal was the brains behind Team Sky as a team director, until his life suddenly ended due to a heart attack at his home on that specific day. Geoghegan Hart was 24 years old at the time and would later win the Giro d'Italia that year. Besides the victory in Milan, he also remembers in detail how March 3, 2020, unfolded. "It was very emotional, especially as the measures against Covid-19 were just starting to take effect everywhere. I distinctly remember being called by Tim Kerrison, who broke the news. That is a moment when all professionalism is set aside, and you see how fragile and emotional the people are with whom you work. It's so raw and intense..."

Geoghegan Hart was supposed to ride Paris-Nice with Team Sky (which had just changed its name to Team INEOS), but that changed. "When we got the news, we of course did not go to the race. A week later, we were at the funeral, where thousands of people came to the cathedral to mourn Nico. That already demonstrated the incredible legacy he had among the local people and in the cycling community. Now, four years later, Nico's son Lenny is already racing. He was very young when his father passed away, but seeing him now reminds you of all the good memories and the impact Nico had on us as riders. Every rider who knew him feels this, and that's why he is still so actively remembered even four years later."

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Geoghegan Heart puts rehabilitation into perspective

For Geoghegan Hart, it puts things into perspective. The Brit, now 28 years old and nearly celebrating his birthday, has undergone a long rehabilitation after breaking his hip at the Giro. On days like this, it makes that seem somewhat insignificant. "Everyone deals with loss, which is the great inevitability of life. When you have an injury, you eventually come to terms with it, even if it's half a year later. That's nothing compared to a boy losing his father and a woman losing her husband. For the INEOS team, Nico's passing was also a significant loss. Not just on a sporting level, but also personally and emotionally. We need to keep remembering that."

Portal was especially important to Geoghegan Hart on a personal level, he explains. "Everyone has one or two specific conversations they remember. He had a very special quality to connect with people. That’s why everyone has a special moment. We must try to remember that forever and also try to be a bit more like him."