About Laurent Jalabert
Laurent Jalabert (born 30 November 1968) is a French former professional road 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 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 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. As winner of the 1995 edition of the Vuelta a España, Jalabert is the last French winner of either of the 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.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.