Djamolidine Abdoujaparov

Djamolidine Abdoujaparov (English: Jamoliddin Abdujaparov, Жамолиддин Абдужапаров; Russian: Джамолиди́н Абдужапа́ров) (born 28 February 1964 in Tashkent) is a former professional road racing cyclist from Uzbekistan. Abdoujaparov was a sprinter, nicknamed "The Tashkent Terror" as he was so ferocious in the sprints. His unorthodox and often erratic sprinting caused a number of crashes. He competed at the Olympic Games on two occasions; in 1988 for the Soviet Union and in 1996 for Uzbekistan.

Abdoujaparov was born in Tashkent to a Crimean Tatar family which was forcibly deported to Uzbekistan during Soviet rule. 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 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 anti-doping tests during the 1997 Tour de France’s second stage, 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.