Laurent Jalabert, French cyclist and sportscaster
Laurent Jalabert (born 30 November 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 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.
1968Nov, 30
Laurent Jalabert
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Events on 1968
- 30Jan
Tet Offensive
Vietnam War: Tet Offensive launch by forces of the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army against South Vietnam, the United States, and their allies. - 31Jan
Tet Offensive
Vietnam War: Viet Cong guerrillas attack the United States embassy in Saigon, and other attacks, in the early morning hours, later grouped together as the Tet Offensive. - 29Apr
Counterculture of the 1960s
The controversial musical Hair, a product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, opens at the Biltmore Theatre on Broadway, with some of its songs becoming anthems of the anti-Vietnam War movement. - 14Oct
U.S. Marine Corps
Vietnam War: The United States Department of Defense announces that the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps will send about 24,000 soldiers and Marines back to Vietnam for involuntary second tours of duty in the combat zone there. - 20Oct
Jacqueline Kennedy
Former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy marries Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis.