José Maria Jiménez

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José Maria Jiménez Sastre (February 6, 1971 in El Barraco, Spain - December 6, 2003 in Madrid) was a professional road bicycle racer.

When he turned professional he was considered a potential successor of Miguel Indurain. He won the points jersey (2001) and the mountains jersey (1997-1999, 2001) of the Vuelta a España, finishing 3rd overall in 1998, 5th in 1999, and 17th in 2001.

His nickname was "El chaba" which means "the wild one", referring to his style of attacking. He often attacked without considering the consequences of this, which sometimes resulted in spectacular wins in the toughest mountain stages. During stage eight of the 1999 Vuelta a España Jiménez attacked the 23% grade of the Angliru in rain and fog to catch Pavel Tonkov's long solo break at the line and take the stage in a two-man sprint. At the 2000 Tour de France he broke away with over 170Km left in the stage and held off a charging Lance Armstrong (who was on his way to his 2nd of 7 Tour de France wins) for a spectacular win. However, he would subsequently pay for his attacking style in the next stage, where he would lose by 10 or more minutes. Jiménez received psychological treatment for depression, and retired from professional cycling in 2002, at which point he got married.

He died of a heart attack in a clinic in Madrid at the age of 32.

Carlos Sastre is Jimenez's brother-in-law.