Laurent Jalabert

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Image:Laurent Jalabert - arrivée du Tour d'Alsace au Ballon d'Alsace.jpg

Laurent Jalabert (born November 30, 1968]]) is a French former professional cyclist, from 1989 to 2002. Affectionately known as "Jaja", he rode to victory in many one-day and stage races and was ranked number 1 in the 1990s. Although he was never the winner of Tour de France, 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 in history to have done this in a Grand Tour. Moreover, along with Eddy Merckx and Djamolidine Abdoujaparov, he is one of only three riders who have won the sprint/point classification in all three grand tours.

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Biography

Jalabert was born in Mazamet.

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 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 the French national road champion in 1998 when he initiated the pull-out of the Spanish teams to protest against the treatment of the riders in the 1998 Tour de France. This caused discontent from the French cycling fans and it took many years for the fans to warm up 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 the French national day, Bastille Day, in the 2001 Tour de France. He retired in 2002 in order to spend more time with his family.

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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 Armentieres 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 super-domestiques such as Johan Bruyneel (now directeur sportif of the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team) and Neil Stephens meant that they were able to keep a tight rein on stage races from start to finish.

Besides Eddy Merckx, he is the only other 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 also known for his generosity and sporting gesture. In the 1995 Vuelta he allowed Bert Dietz of Team Telekom - who had been in a solo breakaway for many kilometers - to take the prestigious 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.

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One-day races

His palmares include two of cycling's five 'Monuments': the Milan-San Remo in 1995 and the Tour of Lombardy in 1997. He also won La Flèche Wallonne twice in 1995 and 1997, and the Classica San Sebastian twice in 2001 and 2002. Notably absent from his palmares is the World Cycling Championship Road Race, where he was also second in 1992 behind 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.

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Retirement

Upon retirement, Jalabert acted as a consultant for LOOK cycles and have contributed in the development of their new line of bicycle frames. He is also a commentator for France 2 TV station, often found on a motorcycle following the major races and commentating live on radio. He resides near Geneva, Switzerland.

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Palmarès

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Special Awards

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World Championships

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Races

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Other placings

  • 2nd in World Cycling Championship in road racing (1992)
  • 2nd in the UCI World Cup (1991)
  • 2nd overall Tour de Suisse (1999)
  • 2nd overall 4 jours de Dunkerque (2001)
  • 2nd in Championnat de Zurich (1991)
  • 2nd in Wincanton Classic (1992)
  • 2nd in the Coupe de France competition (1996) (remportée en 1997 par son frère Nicolas Jalabert (dit Trompette), vice-champion de France sur route 2002 (3e 2005), également vainqueur du Tour de Basse-Saxe 2003, de la Route Adélie 1997, de la Mi-Aout Bretonne 1995, et du Grand Prix de Rennes 1996 et 1997)
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Olympic Games

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