Laurent Jalabert
Jalabert at the 1993 Tour de France | ||||||||||||||||
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Laurent Jalabert | |||||||||||||||
Nickname | Jaja and "le panda" | |||||||||||||||
Born |
Mazamet, France | 30 November 1968|||||||||||||||
Team information | ||||||||||||||||
Current team | Retired | |||||||||||||||
Discipline | Road | |||||||||||||||
Role | Rider | |||||||||||||||
Rider type | All-rounder | |||||||||||||||
Amateur team(s) | ||||||||||||||||
1987 | US Montauban | |||||||||||||||
1988 | GSC Blagnac | |||||||||||||||
Professional team(s) | ||||||||||||||||
1989-1991 | Toshiba | |||||||||||||||
1992-2000 | ONCE | |||||||||||||||
2001-2002 | Team CSC | |||||||||||||||
Major wins | ||||||||||||||||
Other
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Medal record
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Laurent Jalabert (born 30 November 1968) is a French former professional road racing cyclist, from 1989 to 2002.
Affectionately known as "Jaja" (slang for a glass of wine; when he continued drinking wine as a professional, the nickname stuck because of the similarity to his name), he won many one-day and stage races and was ranked number 1 in the 1990s.
Although he never won the Tour de France, where he suffered altitude sickness, he won the Vuelta a España in 1995; as well as the leader's jersey, he won the sprinter's jersey and climber's jersey in the same race — only the third rider to have done this in a Grand Tour. With Alessandro Petacchi, Eddy Merckx, Djamolidine Abdoujaparov and Mark Cavendish, he is one of only five riders to win the points classification in all three grand tours.
Biography
He turned professional with the French Toshiba team in 1989 and quickly established himself as a daring sprinter. He moved on to the Spanish ONCE team under Manolo Saiz, where he reinvented himself as an all-rounder capable of winning one-day races and the tours.
A catalyst was an accident at the finish of the 1994 Tour de France stage in Armentières. A policeman leaned out and several riders hit him. Jalabert was flung into the air and his bicycle was destroyed. He injured his face and promised his wife to change his style of riding. It only took a short while.
He won the 1995 Vuelta a España along with the points and climbers' competitions. He won the world time trial championship in 1997, and was French road champion in 1998, the year he initiated a pull-out of Spanish teams from the 1998 Tour de France in protest at treatment of riders in a police inquiry into drug-taking. This caused discontent among French fans and it took years for them to warm to him. He moved to CSC in 2001, where he won the stage on 14 July, the French national day, Bastille Day, in the 2001 Tour de France. Earlier in the year he had injured his back in a domestic accident. He retired in 2002 after winning the climber's jersey in the Tour and going on a solo escape in the Pyrenees.
Grand tours
He won several stages of the Tour de France, as a sprinter winning the green jersey twice and as a climber winning the polka dot jersey twice. His wins on Bastille Day in Tour de France in 1995 and 2001 ensured him a place in the hearts of French fans.
In the 1990s he dominated Spanish stage races. Jalabert and Alex Zülle were a constant threat to other teams in the Vuelta a España, taking turns winning stages, the overall classification and the points jersey. The strength of ONCE, with domestiques such as Johan Bruyneel and Neil Stephens, meant they were able to keep a rein from start to finish.
Besides Eddy Merckx and Tony Rominger, Jalabert is the only cyclist who has accomplished the trifecta at the grand tour level in the 1995 Vuelta a España, where he won the general, sprinters' and climbers' classifications.
Jalabert is known for sporting generosity. In the 1995 Vuelta he allowed Bert Dietz of Telekom — who had been in a solo breakaway for many kilometers — to take the mountaintop stage win at Sierra Nevada even though he had caught Dietz in the final kilometers. "I never thought we'd catch him, and when I saw he was ready to drop I felt sorry for him. I wanted to show it's not true I'm trying to win it all. My goal is the Tour of Spain," Jalabert said.[1]
When the Vuelta was moved to September, Jalabert was finally able to compete in the spring classics and stage races such as Paris–Nice, winning many stages and the overall classification many times.
One-day races
His palmarès include Milan–San Remo in 1995 and the Giro di Lombardia in 1997. He also won La Flèche Wallonne in 1995 and 1997, and the Clásica de San Sebastián in 2001 and 2002. Absent from his palmares is the world cycling championship road race, although he was second in 1992 to Gianni Bugno of Italy. He also won an award as the most combative rider in the Tour de France in 2001 and 2002.
Retirement
On retirement, Jalabert was a consultant for Look cycles and contributed to a new line of bicycle frames. He is a commentator for France 2 and 3, the national television stations, often from a motorcycle alongside the race. In 2005, Jalabert ran the New York City marathon in 2h 55m 39s, coming 391st in a field of 36,894.[2] He lives with his wife Sylvie and their children at Lafrançaise, near Montauban, south-west France. His brother Nicolas, who often raced with him, continued racing after Laurent's retirement.
Jalabert has also taken up triathlon. In January 2007, he competed at Ironman Switzerland and finished in 9 hours 12 minutes. He exited the water in 1:16, which put him 966th after the swim. Once on the bike he made up significant ground with a 4:39 bike split, which allowed him to climb to 91st overall at the run transition. A 3:11 marathon was enough to gain an additional 69 places and finish 22nd of 1,850 participants. After Switzerland he qualified for the Ironman World championship in Kona, Hawaii, finishing in 9:19 and 76th overall.[3] In June, 2008, he finished 12th overall at Ironman France in Nice, improving his swim time to 1:06 and having the second fastest bike split.
On 11 March 2013 Jalabert was hit by a car while riding his bike near Montauban, France. When the ambulance arrived on the scene of the accident, he was found unconscious and with multiple fractures to his left arm and leg.[4] That same year, Jalabert was summoned by the French senate for a testimony about doping. Jalabert never denied or confirmed that he had doped during his career: "I can’t firmly say that I’ve never taken anything illegal. I’ve effectively used products when it was necessary, in case of lesions or other injuries. At ONCE, in the evening after the stages, the doctor took care of us, for our recovery, but we didn’t really know what it was. A relationship with doctors based on mutual trust was established, so we didn’t ask questions." He also stated that after the Festina affair, he wanted to help his sport move in a new, cleaner direction.[5] In June 2013, it was reported in L'Equipe that retroactive tests performed in 2004 had found evidence of EPO use in samples provided by Jalabert in 1998.[6] The re-tests were originally anonymous, but the Senate inquiry in 2013 has subsequently linked the tests to named riders. Because of these alligations on EPO usage Jalabert has been accused of hypocrisy in criticism of Chris Froome's performance in the 2015 Tour De France.[7]
Career achievements
Major results
- 1988
- 1st French Military Championships
- 1989
- 1st Tour d'Armorique
- 1990
- 2nd Clásica de San Sebastián
- 1991
- 2nd Overall Four Days of Dunkirk
- 1st Stage 2a
- 2nd Overall Paris–Nice
- 2nd UCI Road World Cup
- 2nd Züri-Metzgete
- 4th Clásica de San Sebastián
- 7th Amstel Gold Race
- 7th Paris–Tours
- 8th Giro di Lombardia
- 9th Tour of Flanders
- 1992
- Tour de France
- 1st Points classification
- 1st Stage 6
- Volta a Catalunya
- 1st Stages 2, 5a & 7
- Vuelta a Burgos
- 1st Stages 3, 4 & 6
- 1st Stage 3 Tour of the Basque Country
- 2nd UCI World Road Race Championships
- 2nd Wincanton Classic
- 5th UCI Road World Cup
- 5th Paris–Tours
- 8th Züri-Metzgete
- 9th Milan–San Remo
- 1993
- 1st Overall Vuelta a La Rioja
- 1st Stages 2 & 3
- Vuelta a España
- 1st Stages 3 & 7
- Volta a Catalunya
- 1st Stages 3 & 4
- 1st Vuelta a Mallorca
- 1st Trofeo Luis Puig
- 1st Clasica de Alcobendas
- 1st GP de Toulouse
- 1st Stage 8a Paris–Nice
- 4th Milan–San Remo
- 9th Liège–Bastogne–Liège
- 1994
- Vuelta a España
- 1st Points classification
- 1st Stages 1, 2, 4, 11, 12, 15 & 20
- 1st Stage 2 Tour of the Basque Country
- 1st Stage 5 Grand Prix du Midi Libre
- 1st Stage 5 Volta a Catalunya
- 8th Paris–Tours
- 10th Milan–San Remo
- 1995
- 1st Overall Vuelta a España
- 1st Points classification
- 1st Mountains classification
- 1st Stages 3, 5, 8, 15, & 17
- 1st Overall Paris–Nice
- 1st Stage 2
- 1st Overall Volta a Catalunya
- 1st Stages 1 & 7
- 1st Overall Critérium International
- 1st Stages 1 & 2
- 1st Milan–San Remo
- 1st La Flèche Wallonne
- 1st GP de Toulouse
- 1st GP Amore-Bieta
- 1st Stage 3 Grand Prix du Midi Libre
- 2nd Overall Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
- 1st Stage 2a
- 4th Overall Tour de France
- 1st Points classification
- 1st Stage 12
- 4th Clásica de San Sebastián
- 6th Wincanton Classic
- 1996
- Vuelta a España
- 1st Points classification
- 1st Stages 3 & 13
- 1st Overall Paris–Nice
- 1st Stages 3 & 4
- 1st Overall Grand Prix du Midi Libre
- 1st Stages 2 & 5
- 1st Overall Route du Sud
- 1st Overall Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
- 1st Stage 1
- 1st Classique des Alpes
- 1st Sète-Mont Saint-Clair
- 1st Stage 1 Tour of the Basque Country
- 2nd Overall French Road Cycling Cup
- 3rd Milano–Torino
- 5th Paris–Tours
- 7th UCI World Road Race Championships
- 9th Giro di Lombardia
- 10th Clásica de San Sebastián
- 10th Züri-Metzgete
- 1997
- 1st UCI World Time Trial Championships
- 1st Overall Paris–Nice
- 1st Stages 1 & 6
- 1st Overall Vuelta a Burgos
- 1st Stage 2
- 1st Overall Escalada a Montjuïc
- 1st Stages 1a & 1b
- 1st Giro di Lombardia
- 1st La Flèche Wallonne
- 1st Milano–Torino
- 1st Route Adélie
- 1st Vuelta a Mallorca
- 2nd Overall Tour of the Basque Country
- 1st Stages 2 & 4
- 2nd Liège–Bastogne–Liège
- 5th UCI Road World Cup
- 7th Overall Vuelta a España
- 1st Points classification
- 1st Stages 6 & 20
- 7th Amstel Gold Race
- 1998
- 1st National Road Race Championships
- 1st Overall Vuelta a Asturias
- 1st Stages 1 & 6
- Tour de Suisse
- 1st Prologue, Stages 3 & 8
- Tour of the Basque Country
- 1st Stages 1 & 5b
- 1st Classique des Alpes
- 1st Tour du Haut-Var
- 2nd Overall Paris–Nice
- 2nd Liège–Bastogne–Liège
- 5th Overall Vuelta a España
- 1999
- 1st Overall Tour de Romandie
- 1st Prologue, Stages 2 & 3b
- 1st Overall Tour of the Basque Country
- 1st Stage 1 & 5b
- 1st Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme
- 1st Stage 5b
- 1st Prueba Villafranca de Ordizia
- 2nd Overall Tour de Suisse
- 1st Prologue
- 4th Overall Giro d'Italia
- 1st Points classification
- 1st Stages 4, 9 & 16
- 2000
- 1st Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme
- 1st Stage 5b
- 1st Overall Tour Méditerranéen
- 1st Stage 5
- 1st Stage 7 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
- 1st Stage 3 Tirreno–Adriatico
- 2nd GP Miguel Indurain
- 3rd Overall Tour of the Basque Country
- 1st Stage 4 Liège–Bastogne–Liège
- 3rd La Flèche Wallonne
- 5th Road Race, Olympic Games
- 10th
- 2001
- Tour de France
- 1st Mountains classification
- 1st Stages 4 & 7
- 1st Clásica de San Sebastián
- 1st Polynormande
- 2nd Overall Four Days of Dunkirk
- 2002
- Tour de France
- 1st Clásica de San Sebastián
- 1st Coppa Agostoni
- 1st Tour du Haut-Var
- 1st CSC Classic
- 3rd Overall Paris–Nice
- 1st Stage 3
- 3rd Memorial Rik Van Steenbergen
Grand Tour general classification results timeline
Grand Tour | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Giro | - | - | WD | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4 | - | - | - |
Tour | - | 71 | 34 | WD | WD | 4 | WD | 43 | WD | - | 54 | 19 | 42 |
Vuelta | 70 | - | - | 35 | 75 | 1 | 19 | 7 | 5 | WD | - | - | - |
WD = Withdrew
Awards
- 1st in (UCI) rankings: (1995, 1996, 1997 and 1999) (2nd in 1998)
- Vélo d'Or international (1995) (2nd in 1997)
- Vélo d'Or national (1992, 1995, 2002)
- Mendrisio d'Oro (1995)
Ironman
- 22nd Ironman Switzerland (2007)
- 76th Ironman World Championship (2007)
- 12th Ironman France (2008)
Doping
His name was on the list of doping tests published by the French Senate on 24 July 2013 that were collected during the 1998 Tour de France and found positive for EPO when retested in 2004.[8]
References
- ↑ "Tour of Spain — Stages 12 to 17". Autobus.cyclingnews.com. Retrieved October 2, 2009.
- ↑ "www.cyclingnews.com — the world centre of cycling". Autobus.cyclingnews.com. November 8, 2005. Retrieved October 2, 2009.
- ↑ "Weekend Results". Triathlon Magazine Canada. May 4, 2009. Archived from the original on May 11, 2009. Retrieved October 2, 2009.
- ↑ "Jalabert hit by car while cycling". Cyclingnews.com. March 11, 2013. Retrieved March 11, 2013.
- ↑ Jeff Quénet (May 16, 2013). "Jalabert can't firmly say he never doped". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. Retrieved May 16, 2013.
- ↑ Laurent Jalabert positif à l'EPO sur le Tour 1998 Cyclisme — Dopage — Laurent Jalabert positif à l'EPO sur le Tour 1998 L'Equipe.fr accessed June 25, 2013
- ↑ "Video: ITV reporter Matt Rendell confronts Laurent Jalabert over Froome comments". itv.com.
- ↑ "French Senate releases positive EPO cases from 1998 Tour de France". July 24, 2013. Retrieved February 2, 2015.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Laurent Jalabert. |
- Laurent Jalabert profile at Cycling Archives