Laurent Jalabert (born 30 November 1968) is a French former professionalroad racing cyclist, from 1989 to 2002. Despite neither denying nor admitting using EPO in his notorious cycling teams throughout the 1990s, French Senate investigation proved his EPO use in 2013.
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 world in 1995, 1996, 1997 and 1999.
Although he never won theTour de France, where he suffered altitude sickness, he won theVuelta a España in 1995; as well as the leader's jersey, he won thesprinter's jersey andclimber's jersey in the same race — only the third rider to have done this in aGrand Tour. WithAlessandro Petacchi,Eddy Merckx,Djamolidine Abdoujaparov andMark Cavendish, he is one of only five riders to win thepoints classification in all three grand tours.
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 underManolo 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 the1994 Tour de France stage inArmentières. 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 theworld time trial championship in 1997, and was French road champion in 1998, the year he initiated a pull-out of Spanish teams from the1998 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 toCSC in 2001, where he won the stage on 14 July, the French national day,Bastille Day, in the2001 Tour de France. Earlier in the year he had injured his back in a domestic accident. He retired in 2002 after winning the mountains classification in the Tour de France and going on a solo escape in the Pyrenees.
He won several stages of theTour de France, as a sprinter winning thepoints classification in the Tour de France twice and as a climber winning themountains classification in the Tour de France twice. His wins onBastille 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 andAlex 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, withdomestiques such asJohan Bruyneel andNeil Stephens, meant they were able to keep a rein from start to finish.
BesidesEddy Merckx andTony Rominger, Jalabert is the only cyclist who has accomplished thetrifecta at thegrand 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 atSierra 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 springclassics and stage races such asParis–Nice, winning many stages and the overall classification many times.
His palmarès includeMilan–San Remo in 1995 and theGiro di Lombardia in 1997. He also wonLa Flèche Wallonne in 1995 and 1997, and theClásica de San Sebastián in 2001 and 2002. Absent from his palmares is theworld cycling championship road race, although he was second in 1992 toGianni Bugno of Italy. He also won an award as the most combative rider in the Tour de France in 2001 and 2002.
On retirement, Jalabert was a consultant for Look cycles and contributed to a new line ofbicycle 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 Citymarathon in 2h 55m 39s, coming 391st in a field of 36,894.[2] He lives with his wife Sylvie and their children at Lafrançaise, nearMontauban, south-west France. His brotherNicolas, who often raced with him, continued racing after Laurent's retirement.
Jalabert has also taken up triathlon.[3] 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.[4] 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 nearMontauban, France. When the ambulance arrived on the scene of the crash, he was found unconscious and with multiple fractures to his left arm and leg.[5] 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 theFestina affair, he wanted to help his sport move in a new, cleaner direction.[6]In June 2013, it was reported inL'Équipe that retroactive tests performed in 2004 had found evidence of EPO use in samples provided by Jalabert in 1998.[7] 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.[8]
His name was on the list of doping tests published by theFrench Senate on 24 July 2013 that were collected during the1998 Tour de France and found positive forEPO when retested in 2004.[9]
Points classification
OverallTour d'Armorique OverallParis–Bourges Points classificationPoints classification Points classification Points classification
Road race,UCI Road World Championships OverallVuelta a La Rioja OverallVuelta a Mallorca Points classification Points classification
Points classification OverallVuelta a EspañaPoints classification
Mountains classification OverallParis–Nice
OverallVolta a Catalunya OverallCritérium InternationalPoints classification after Stages 2–3 OverallParis–Nice OverallGrand Prix du Midi Libre Points classification
OverallRoute du Sud
OverallVolta a la Comunitat Valenciana Points classification
Points classification
Time trial,UCI Road World Championships OverallParis–Nice OverallVuelta a Burgos OverallEscalada a MontjuïcPoints classification after Stage 6
Road race, National Road Championships
OverallVuelta a Asturias after Stage 3 after Stage 9 OverallTour de Romandie Points classification OverallTour of the Basque Country OverallSetmana Catalana de Ciclisme Points classification
Points classification
Points classification
after Stages 5–7 & 9–13 OverallSetmana Catalana de Ciclisme OverallTour Méditerranéen after Stages 4 & 5
Mountains classification
Combativity award OverallMountains classification
Combativity award Overall Mountains classification,Tour du Poitou Charentes et de la Vienne| Grand Tour general classification results | |||||||||||||
| Grand Tour | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Giro d'Italia | — | — | DNF | — | — | — | — | — | — | 4 | — | — | — |
| Tour de France | — | 71 | 34 | DNF | DNF | 4 | DNF | 43 | DNF | — | 54 | 19 | 42 |
| /Vuelta a España | 70 | — | — | 35 | 75 | 1 | 19 | 7 | 5 | DNF | — | — | — |
| Major stage race general classification results | |||||||||||||
| Major stage race | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 |
| /Paris–Nice | 11 | 2 | — | 111 | 40 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | — | — | — | 3 |
 Tirreno–Adriatico | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 4 | 4 | — | — |
| Tour of the Basque Country | — | — | — | — | 7 | 2 | 13 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | — | — |
| /Tour de Romandie | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | DNF | — | — |
 Critérium du Dauphiné | — | 58 | — | — | — | — | DNF | — | DNF | — | 12 | — | 44 |
| Volta a Catalunya | — | — | 64 | 71 | DNF | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Tour de Suisse | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | DNF | 22 | 2 | — | 9 | — |
| Monument | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milan–San Remo | 41 | 17 | 9 | 4 | 10 | 1 | — | 17 | 15 | 115 | 11 | — | 69 |
| Tour of Flanders | — | 9 | 24 | 57 | 16 | — | — | 80 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Paris–Roubaix | — | 18 | — | 26 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Liège–Bastogne–Liège | — | 11 | 57 | 9 | 37 | 4 | — | 2 | 2 | DNF | 10 | — | — |
| Giro di Lombardia | — | 8 | — | — | 22 | — | 9 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Classic | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 |
| Amstel Gold Race | — | 7 | — | — | — | — | — | 7 | — | 28 | — | — | — |
| La Flèche Wallonne | — | — | 18 | — | — | 1 | — | 1 | 19 | DNF | 3 | — | — |
| Clásica de San Sebastián | 2 | 4 | 103 | 34 | — | 4 | 10 | 19 | 59 | — | — | 1 | 1 |
| Züri Metzgete | — | 2 | — | 68 | — | 12 | 10 | 26 | — | — | — | — | 91 |
| Paris–Tours | — | 7 | 5 | — | 8 | — | 5 | 28 | — | — | — | — | — |
| — | Did not compete |
|---|---|
| DNF | Did not finish |
Sporting positions and awards | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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