Djamolidine Abdoujaparov

Djamolidine Abdoujaparov
	Abdoujaparov in 1993
Personal information
Full name	Djamolidine Abdoujaparov
Nickname	The Tashkent Express, The Tashkent Terror, Abdou
Born	28 February 1964 (age 60); Tashkent, Uzbek SSR, Soviet Union
Height	1.74 m (5 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Weight	72 kg (159 lb; 11 st 5 lb)
Team information
Current team	Retired
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Rider type	Sprinter
Professional teams
1990	Alfa Lum
1991–1992	Carrera Jeans–Tassoni
1993	Lampre–Polti
1994	Team Polti–Vaporetto
1995	Novell–Decca–Colnago
1996	Refin–Mobilvetta
1997	Lotto–Mobistar–Isoglass
Major wins
	Grand Tours Tour de France Points classification (1991, 1993, 1994) 9 individual stages (1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996) Giro d'Italia Points classification (1994) Intergiro classification (1994) 1 individual stage (1994) Vuelta a España Points classification (1992) 7 individual stages (1992, 1993) One-day races and Classics Gent–Wevelgem (1991)

Djamolidine Mirgarifanovich Abdoujaparov (Uzbek: Jamoliddin Mirgarifanovich Abdujaparov; born 28 February 1964) is a former professional road racing cyclist from Uzbekistan.^[2] Abdoujaparov was a sprinter, nicknamed "The Tashkent Terror"^[3] as he was so ferocious in the sprints. His unorthodox and often erratic sprinting caused a number of crashes. He competed in the individual road race at the Olympic Games on two occasions: in 1988 for the Soviet Union and in 1996 for Uzbekistan; he placed fifth in 1988.^[1]

Career

Abdoujaparov was born in Tashkent to a Crimean Tatar family which was forcibly deported to Uzbekistan during Soviet rule.^[2] A graduate of the Soviet sports programme, he came into his prime just as his country gained independence; after initial difficulties (including Uzbekistan's not being affiliated to the UCI, which caused problems with the Cycling World Championship) he signed for a Western professional team and became one of the world's top sprinters. Abdoujaparov first rode with the Alfa Lum team in 1990 before the team folded and he joined Carrera Jeans–Tassoni in 1991.^[4] Abdoujaparov had numerous tussles with Laurent Jalabert in the Tour de France's green sprinters jersey competition in the early 1990s. In 1991 Abdoujaparov won the competition despite a spectacular crash during the final stage on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, where he collided with the barriers 100 m before the finish and somersaulted into the air. Despite still holding enough points to win the sprinters' jersey, he had to cross the line unaided. Members of his team picked him up, put him back on the bike, and he rode slowly over the last few meters, medical staff walking alongside him.

In his last complete tour in 1996, Abdoujaparov achieved a mountain breakaway for his last stage win, unusual for a sprinter. By this stage, though, results were not as good, and after failing seven separate anti-doping tests during the 1997 season, including twice at the 1997 Tour de France, he retired from cycling. He failed the tests screening for the presence in his body of, among others, the anti-asthma drug clenbuterol.

Abdoujaparov, a British rock band formed by former Carter USM guitarist Les "Fruitbat" Carter, is named after him.^[5]