Laurent Jalabert
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 Laurent Jalabert, present at the arrival of the "Tour d'Alsace" |
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Laurent Jalabert |
| Nickname | Jaja |
| Date of birth | November 30, 1968 (age 38) |
| Country |  France |
| Team information | |
| Current team | Retired |
| Discipline | Road |
| Role | Rider |
| Professional team(s) | |
| 1989-1991 1992-2000 2001-2002 |
Toshiba ONCE Team CSC |
| Major wins | |
 World Time-Trial Champion (1997)Vuelta a España (1995), 18 stages Tour de France, 4 stages Giro d'Italia, 3 stages Paris-Nice (1995, 1996, 1997) Tour de Romandie (1999) Vuelta al País Vasco (1999) Volta a Catalunya (1995) Clásica de San Sebastián (2001, 2002) Giro di Lombardia (1997) La Flèche Wallonne (1995, 1997) Milan-Sanremo (1995) |
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| Infobox last updated on: | |
| January 15, 2007 | |
Laurent Jalabert (born November 30, 1968) is a French former professional cyclist, from 1989 to 2002. Affectionately known as "Jaja" (the word is 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 rode to victory in many one-day and stage races and was ranked number 1 in the 1990s. Although he never won the Tour de France, where he said he suffered too much from altitude sickness, he won the Vuelta a España in 1995; as well as the leader's jersey, he also won the sprinter's jersey and climber's jersey all in the same race - only the second rider to have done this in a Grand Tour. Moreover, along with Eddy Merckx and Djamolidine Abdoujaparov, he is one of only three riders to win the points classification in all three grand tours.
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[edit] Biography
Jalabert was born in Mazamet in southern central France. The town now has a street named after him.
He turned professional with the French Toshiba team in 1989 and quickly established himself as one of the most daring sprinters in the professional peloton. He then moved on to the Spanish ONCE team under the supervision of Manolo Saiz, where he reinvented himself as an all-rounder capable of winning any one-day race and even the Grand Tours.
A catalyst in this transformation was the horrible accident at the finish line of the 1994 Tour de France stage in Armentières. A policeman stepped into the charging peloton to snap a photo of the riders and was hit hard by several of the riders. Jalabert was flung into the air and his bicycle was destroyed on impact. He suffered severe injuries to his face, and promised his wife to change his style of riding away from the pure sprinter that he was at the time.
It only took a short while for his transformation to become complete. In the following year he won the 1995 Vuelta a España, winning the general classification along with the points and climbers' competitions. He won the World Time Trial Championship in 1997, and was French national road champion in 1998 when he initiated the pull-out of Spanish teams from the 1998 Tour de France in protest at the treatment of riders in the police inquiry into drug-taking. This caused discontent from the French cycling fans and it took many years for the fans to warm to him again. He moved to the newly-formed CSC team in 2001, where he once again gained the adoration of the French cycling public, winning the stage on July 14, the French national day, Bastille Day, in the 2001 Tour de France. He retired in 2002 to spend more time with his family.
[edit] Grand tours
He has won several stages of Tour de France, early in his days as a sprinter winning the sprinter's green jersey twice and later as a climber winning the climber's polka dot jersey twice. His memorable wins on Bastille Day in Tour de France in 1995 and 2001 ensured him eternal place in the hearts of French cycling fans. Despite having started his career as one of the best sprinters in the peloton, his crash at the Tour de France stage finishing in Armentières in 1994 made him rediscover himself as an all-rounder with the stamina needed to win Grand Tours such as the Vuelta a España or smaller stage races such as Paris-Nice.
In the 1990s he dominated the Spanish stage races as part of the powerful ONCE team of Manolo Saiz. The duet of Jalabert and Alex Zülle was a constant threat to other teams' ambitions in the Vuelta a España, with Zülle and Jalabert taking turns winning stages, the overall classification, and the points jersey. The strength of the ONCE team, with domestiques such as Johan Bruyneel (later directeur sportif of the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team) and Neil Stephens meant that they were able to keep a rein on stage races from start to finish.
Besides Eddy Merckx and Tony Rominger, he is the only cyclist who has accomplished the trifecta at the grand tours 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 Team 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.
[edit] One-day races
His palmares include two of cycling's five 'Monuments': the Milan-Sanremo in 1995 and the Giro di Lombardia in 1997. He also won La Flèche Wallonne twice in 1995 and 1997, and the Clásica de San Sebastián twice in 2001 and 2002. Notably absent from his palmares is the World Cycling Championship Road Race, although he was second in 1992 to Gianni Bugno of Italy. However, he won the World Time Trial Championship in 1997. He also won the Most Combative Award in Tour de France in 2001 and 2002.
[edit] Retirement
Upon retirement, Jalabert acted as a consultant for LOOK cycles and contributed in the development of their new line of bicycle frames. He is also a commentator for France 2 and 3, the national television stations, often from a motorcycle alongside the race. In 2005, Jalabert ran the NYC Marathon whichhe finished in 2 hours, 55 minutes and 39 seconds putting him in 391st in a field of 36,894 [2]. He lives with his wife Sylvie in a suburb of Geneva, Switzerland, close to the French border. His brother Nicolas, who often raced with him, continued racing after Laurent's retirement.
In January 2007, Jalabert will compete in an ultra-endurance triathlon at Ironman Switzerland.[1]
[edit] Palmarès
[edit] Special 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)
[edit] World Championships
- World champion in Individual time trial (1997)
- French Road National Champion (1998)
[edit] Races
- Tour de France (4 stages, career); (1992 points classification); (1995 points classification); (2001 mountains classification); (2002 mountains classification);
- Giro d'Italia (3 stages, career); (1999 points classification)
- Vuelta a España (18 stages, career); (1994 points classification); (1995 general, points and mountains classification); (1996 points classification); (1997 points classification)
- Milan-Sanremo (1995)
- Giro di Lombardia (1997)
- La Flèche Wallonne (1995, 1997)
- Paris-Nice (1995, 1996, 1997)
- Midi Libre (1996)
- Clásica de San Sebastián (2001, 2002)
- Classique des Alpes (1996, 1998)
- Tour de Romandie (1999)
- Volta a Catalunya (1995)
- Vuelta al País Vasco (1999)
- Tour Méditerranéen (2000)
- Critérium International (1995)
- Classic Haribo (1996)
- Paris-Bourges (1990)
- Milano-Torino (1997)
- Trofeo Luis Puig (1993)
- Coppa Agostoni (2002)
- Route du Sud (1996)
- Route Adélie (1997)
- Setmana Catalana (1999, 2000)
- Tour du Haut-Var (1998, 2002)
- Tour d'Armorique (1989)
- Vuelta a la Rioja (1993)
- Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana (1996)
- Vuelta a Burgos (1997)
- Vuelta a Asturias (1998)
- Escalada a Montjuïc (1997)
- Classica de Alcobendas (1993)
- Vuelta a Mallorca (1993, 1997)
- Sète-Mont Saint-Clair 1996)
- GP de Villafranca de Ordizia 1999)
- GP de Toulouse (1993, 1995)
- GP Amore-Bieta (1995)
- GP d'Aarhus (2002)
- French military champion (1988)
[edit] Other placings
- 2nd in World Cycling Championship in road racing (1992)
- 2nd in the UCI Road World Cup (1991)
- 2nd overall Tour de Suisse (1999)
- 2nd overall 4 jours de Dunkerque (2001)
- 2nd in Züri-Metzgete (1991)
- 2nd in Wincanton Classic (1992)
- 2nd in the Coupe de France competition (1996)
[edit] Olympic Games
- 5th in the Olympic Games road race (2000)
| Preceded by Tony Rominger |
Winner of the Vuelta a España 1995 |
Succeeded by Alex Zülle |
| Preceded by Alex Zülle |
World Time Trial Champion 1997 |
Succeeded by Abraham Olano |
