Laurent Jalabert

Laurent Jalabert

Jalabert at the 2009 UCI Road World Championships
Personal information
Full name	Laurent Jalabert
Nickname	Jaja and "le panda"
Born	(1968-11-30) November 30, 1968 Mazamet, France
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
Grand Tours Tour de France Points classification (1992, 1995) Mountains classification (2001, 2002) Combativity award (2001, 2002) 4 individual stages Giro d'Italia Points classification (1999) 3 individual stages Vuelta a España General classification (1995) Points classification (1994, 1995, 1996, 1997) Mountains classification (1995) 18 individual stages Stage races Paris–Nice (1995, 1996, 1997) Volta a Catalunya (1995) Critérium International (1995) Vuelta a Burgos (1997) Tour de Romandie (1999) Tour of the Basque Country (1999) One-day races and Classics World Time Trial Championship (1997) National Road Race Championship (1998) Milano-Sanremo (1995) La Flèche Wallonne (1995, 1997) Giro di Lombardia (1997) Milano–Torino (1997) Clásica de San Sebastián (2001, 2002) Other UCI Road World Rankings (1995, 1996, 1997, 1999) Velo d'Or (1995)
Medal record Competitor for  France Road bicycle racing World Championships Gold 1997 San Sebastian Elite Men's Time Trial Silver 1992 Benidorm Elite Men's Road Race

Laurent Jalabert (born November 30, 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 all 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 July 14, 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 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 March 11, 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.

Palmarès

Grand Tours overall classification results timeline

Grand Tour	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002
Vuelta	70	-	-	35	75	1	19	7	5	WD	-	-	-
Giro	-	-	WD	-	-	-	-	-	-	4	-	-	-
Tour	-	71	34	WD	WD	4	WD	43	WD	-	54	19	42

WD = Withdrew

Doping

His name was on the list of doping tests published by the French Senate in 24 July 2013 that were collected during the 1998 Tour de France and found positive for EPO when retested in 2004.^[7]

References

Tour de France winners of the Points classification 1953 Fritz Schär 1954 Ferdinand Kübler 1955–1956 Stan Ockers 1957 Jean Forestier 1958 Jean Graczyk 1959 André Darrigade 1960 Jean Graczyk 1961 André Darrigade 1962 Rudi Altig 1963 Rik Van Looy 1964–1965 Jan Janssen 1966 Willy Planckaert 1967 Jan Janssen 1968 Franco Bitossi 1969 Eddy Merckx 1970 Walter Godefroot 1971–1972 Eddy Merckx 1973 Herman van Springel 1974 Patrick Sercu 1975 Rik Van Linden 1976 Freddy Maertens 1977 Jacques Esclassan 1978 Freddy Maertens 1979 Bernard Hinault 1980 Rudy Pevenage 1981 Freddy Maertens 1982–1983 Sean Kelly 1984 Frank Hoste 1985 Sean Kelly 1986 Eric Vanderaerden 1987 Jean-Paul van Poppel 1988 Eddy Planckaert 1989 Sean Kelly 1990 Olaf Ludwig 1991 Djamolidine Abdoujaparov 1992 Laurent Jalabert 1993–1994 Djamolidine Abdoujaparov 1995 Laurent Jalabert 1996–2001 Erik Zabel 2002 Robbie McEwen 2003 Baden Cooke 2004 Robbie McEwen 2005 Thor Hushovd 2006 Robbie McEwen 2007 Tom Boonen 2008 Óscar Freire 2009 Thor Hushovd 2010 Alessandro Petacchi 2011 Mark Cavendish 2012–2014 Peter Sagan

Tour de France winners of the Mountains classification 1933 Vicente Trueba 1934 René Vietto 1935 Félicien Vervaecke 1936 Julián Berrendero 1937 Félicien Vervaecke 1938 Gino Bartali 1939 Sylvère Maes 1947 Pierre Brambilla 1948 Gino Bartali 1949 Fausto Coppi 1950 Louison Bobet 1951 Raphaël Géminiani 1952 Fausto Coppi 1953 Jesús Loroño 1954 Federico Bahamontes 1955–1956 Charly Gaul 1957 Gastone Nencini 1958–1959 Federico Bahamontes 1960–1961 Imerio Massignan 1962–1964 Federico Bahamontes 1965–1967 Julio Jiménez 1968 Aurelio González Puente 1969–1970 Eddy Merckx 1971–1972 Lucien Van Impe 1973 Pedro Torres 1974 Domingo Perurena 1975 Lucien Van Impe 1976 Giancarlo Bellini 1977 Lucien Van Impe 1978 Mariano Martínez 1979 Giovanni Battaglin 1980 Raymond Martin 1981 Lucien Van Impe 1982 Bernard Vallet 1983 Lucien Van Impe 1984 Robert Millar 1985 Luis Herrera 1986 Bernard Hinault 1987 Luis Herrera 1988 Steven Rooks 1989 Gert-Jan Theunisse 1990 Thierry Claveyrolat 1991–1992 Claudio Chiappucci 1993 Tony Rominger 1994–1997 Richard Virenque 1998 Christophe Rinero 1999 Richard Virenque 2000 Santiago Botero 2001–2002 Laurent Jalabert 2003–2004 Richard Virenque 2005–2006 Michael Rasmussen 2007 Mauricio Soler 2008 Bernhard Kohl 2009 Franco Pellizotti 2010 Anthony Charteau 2011 Samuel Sánchez 2012 Thomas Voeckler 2013 Nairo Quintana 2014 Rafał Majka

Tour de France winners of the Combativity award 1956 André Darrigade 1957 Nicolas Barone 1958 Federico Bahamontes 1959 Gérard Saint 1960 Jean Graczyk 1961 Team West-Southwest 1962 Eddy Pauwels 1963 Rik Van Looy 1964 Henry Anglade 1965 Felice Gimondi 1966 Rudi Altig 1967 Désiré Letort 1968 Roger Pingeon 1969–1970 Eddy Merckx 1971 Luis Ocaña 1972 Cyrille Guimard 1973 Luis Ocaña 1974–1975 Eddy Merckx 1976 Raymond Delisle 1977 Gerrie Knetemann 1978 Paul Wellens 1979 Hennie Kuiper 1980 Christian Levavasseur 1981 Bernard Hinault 1982 Régis Clère 1983 Serge Demierre 1984 Bernard Hinault 1985 Maarten Ducrot 1986 Bernard Hinault 1987 Régis Clère 1988 Jérôme Simon 1989 Laurent Fignon 1990 Eduardo Chozas 1991–1992 Claudio Chiappucci 1993 Massimo Ghirotto 1994 Eros Poli 1995 Hernán Buenahora 1996–1997 Richard Virenque 1998–1999 Jacky Durand 2000 Erik Dekker 2001–2002 Laurent Jalabert 2003 Alexander Vinokourov 2004 Richard Virenque 2005 Óscar Pereiro 2006 David de la Fuente 2007 Amets Txurruka 2008 Sylvain Chavanel 2009 None 2010 Sylvain Chavanel 2011 Jérémy Roy 2012 Chris Anker Sørensen 2013 Christophe Riblon 2014 Alessandro De Marchi

Giro d'Italia winners of the Points classification 1966 Gianni Motta 1967 Dino Zandegù 1968 Eddy Merckx 1969–70 Franco Bitossi 1971 Marino Basso 1972 Roger De Vlaeminck 1973 Eddy Merckx 1974–75 Roger De Vlaeminck 1976–1978 Francesco Moser 1979 Giuseppe Saronni 1980–1981 Giuseppe Saronni 1982 Francesco Moser 1983 Giuseppe Saronni 1984 Urs Freuler 1985 Johan Van der Velde 1986 Guido Bontempi 1987–1988 Johan Van der Velde 1989 Giovanni Fidanza 1990 Gianni Bugno 1991 Claudio Chiappucci 1992 Mario Cipollini 1993 Adriano Baffi 1994 Djamolidine Abdoujaparov 1995 Tony Rominger 1996 Fabrizio Guidi 1997 Mario Cipollini 1998 Mariano Piccoli 1999 Laurent Jalabert 2000 Dimitri Konyshev 2001 Massimo Strazzer 2002 Mario Cipollini 2003 Gilberto Simoni 2004 Alessandro Petacchi 2005–2006 Paolo Bettini 2007 Danilo Di Luca 2008 Daniele Bennati 2009 Denis Menchov 2010 Cadel Evans 2011 Michele Scarponi 2012 Joaquim Rodríguez 2013 Mark Cavendish 2014 Nacer Bouhanni

Vuelta a España winners of the General classification 1935–36 Gustaaf Deloor 1937–40 Spanish Civil War 1941–42 Julián Berrendero 1943–44 World War II 1945 Delio Rodríguez 1946 Dalmacio Langarica 1947 Edward Van Dijck 1948 Bernardo Ruiz 1949 Race not held 1950 Emilio Rodríguez 1951–54 Race not held 1955 Jean Dotto 1956 Angelo Conterno 1957 Jesús Loroño 1958 Jean Stablinski 1959 Antonio Suárez 1960 Frans De Mulder 1961 Angelino Soler 1962 Rudi Altig 1963 Jacques Anquetil 1964 Raymond Poulidor 1965 Rolf Wolfshohl 1966 Francisco Gabica 1967 Jan Janssen 1968 Felice Gimondi 1969 Roger Pingeon 1970 Luis Ocaña 1971 Ferdinand Bracke 1972 José Manuel Fuente 1973 Eddy Merckx 1974 José Manuel Fuente 1975 Agustín Tamames 1976 José Pesarrodona 1977 Freddy Maertens 1978 Bernard Hinault 1979 Joop Zoetemelk 1980 Faustino Ruperez 1981 Giovanni Battaglin 1982 Marino Lejarreta 1983 Bernard Hinault 1984 Éric Caritoux 1985 Pedro Delgado 1986 Álvaro Pino 1987 Luis Herrera 1988 Sean Kelly 1989 Pedro Delgado 1990 Marco Giovannetti 1991 Melcior Mauri 1992–93–94 Tony Rominger 1995 Laurent Jalabert 1996–97 Alex Zülle 1998 Abraham Olano 1999 Jan Ullrich 2000 Roberto Heras 2001 Ángel Casero 2002 Aitor González 2003–04 Roberto Heras 2005 Denis Menchov 2006 Alexander Vinokourov 2007 Denis Menchov 2008 Alberto Contador 2009 Alejandro Valverde 2010 Vincenzo Nibali 2011 Juan José Cobo 2012 Alberto Contador 2013 Chris Horner 2014 Alberto Contador

Vélo d'Or Winners 1992: Indurain 1993: Indurain 1994: Rominger 1995: Jalabert 1996: Museeuw 1997: Ullrich 1998: Pantani 1999: Armstrong 2000: Armstrong 2001: Armstrong 2002: Cipollini 2003: Armstrong 2004: Armstrong 2005: Boonen 2006: Bettini 2007: Contador 2008: Contador 2009: Contador 2010: Cancellara 2011: Gilbert 2012: Wiggins 2013: Froome 2014: Contador

{{UCI Road World Champions – Men's time trial}}

French National Road Race Champions (men) 1900–1919 Gustave Garrigou (1907–1908) Jean Alavoine (1909) Émile Georget (1910) Octave Lapize (1911–1913) Charles Crupelandt (1914) Henri Pélissier (1919) 1920–1939 Jean Alavoine (1920) Francis Pélissier (1921) Jean Brunier (1922) Francis Pélissier (1923–1924) Achille Souchard (1925–1926) Ferdinand Le Drogo (1927–1928) Marcel Bidot (1929) Roger Bisseron (1930) Armand Blanchonnet (1931) André Godinat (1932) Roger Lapébie (1933) Raymond Louviot (1934) Georges Speicher (1935) René Le Grèves (1936) Georges Speicher (1937) Paul Maye (1938) Georges Speicher (1939) 1940–1959 René Vietto (1941) Emile Idée (1942) Paul Maye (1943) Urbain Caffi (1944) Eloi Tassin (1945) Louis Caput (1946) Emile Idée (1947) César Marcelak (1948) Jean Rey (1949) Louison Bobet (1950–1951) Adolphe Deledda (1952) Raphaël Géminiani (1953) Jacques Dupont (1954) André Darrigade (1955) Bernard Gauthier (1956) Valentin Huot (1957–1958) Henry Anglade (1959) 1960–1979 Jean Stablinski (1960) Raymond Poulidor (1961) Jean Stablinski (1962–1964) Henry Anglade (1965) Jean-Claude Theillière (1966) Désiré Letort (1967) Lucien Aimar (1968) Raymond Delisle (1969) Paul Gutty (1970) Yves Hézard (1971) Roland Berland (1972) Bernard Thévenet (1973) Georges Talbourdet (1974) Régis Ovion (1975) Guy Sibille (1976) Marcel Tinazzi (1977) Bernard Hinault (1978) Roland Berland (1979) 1980–1999 Pierre-Raymond Villemiane (1980) Serge Beucherie (1981) Régis Clère (1982) Marc Gomez (1983) Laurent Fignon (1984) Jean-Claude Leclercq (1985) Yvon Madiot (1986) Marc Madiot (1987) Éric Caritoux (1988–1989) Philippe Louviot (1990) Armand de Las Cuevas (1991) Luc Leblanc (1992) Jacky Durand (1993–1994) Eddy Seigneur (1995) Stéphane Heulot (1996) Stéphane Barthe (1997) Laurent Jalabert (1998) François Simon (1999) 2000–2019 Christophe Capelle (2000) Didier Rous (2001) Nicolas Vogondy (2002) Didier Rous (2003) Thomas Voeckler (2004) Pierrick Fédrigo (2005) Florent Brard (2006) Christophe Moreau (2007) Nicolas Vogondy (2008) Dimitri Champion (2009) Thomas Voeckler (2010) Sylvain Chavanel (2011) Nacer Bouhanni (2012) Arthur Vichot (2013) Arnaud Démare (2014)

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