Andrey Kivilev

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Andrei Mikhailovich Kivilev (Template:Lang, 20 September 1973 – 12 March 2003) was a professional road bicycle racer from Taldykorgan, Kazakhstan. In March 2003, he crashed during the Paris–Nice race and subsequently died of his injuries. His death was the trigger for the UCI to implement the compulsory wearing of helmets in all endorsed races.

Biography

Born in Taldykorgan, Almaty Province, Kivilev began his amateur racing career in Spain (Cropusa-Burgos), before moving to France, where he wore the EC Saint-Étienne jersey.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1993, he had a successful Regio-Tour as part of a successful tour for the Kazakh team: Kivilev won the points competition; teammate Alexander Vinokourov won the combined competition; and the team won the team competition.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He secured a professional contract with Festina in 1998 and rode with them until the end of 1999. Kivilev had a modest time at Festina, where his best results were fifth at the Championship of Zurich<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and seventh at the Critérium International.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Despite his lack of professional victories, Kivilev attracted admirers for his riding style, and despite interest from US Postal Service,<ref name="Cyclingnews Tribute">Template:Cite news</ref> signed with Ag2r Prévoyance in 2000, before moving to Cofidis in 2001. It was at Cofidis that his career started to take off: in his first season, not only did he win the Route du Sud and stage five of the Dauphiné Libéré race, between Romans-sur-Isère and Grenoble,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> but also had a sensational performance in the Tour de France. Having lost over eighteen minutes on a windswept and attritional stage 4 between Huy and Verdun,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Kivilev was allowed to form part of a fourteen-man breakaway on stage 8 between Colmar and Pontarlier and gained 33 minutes on the race favourites.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Kivilev was an able climber, and limited his losses on the big hills. His time trialling let him down when he lost a podium place to Joseba Beloki on the final time trial. Nevertheless, Kivilev finished the tour in 4th position.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In fact, with later doping scandals eliminating those ahead of him on the podium, the French newspaper Le Monde retroactively (and unofficially) named Kivilev winner of the 2001 Tour de France.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Kivilev crashed in the 2003 edition of Paris–Nice. The racer in front of him suffered a mechanical problem right as Kivilev took his hands off his handlebars to adjust his earpiece. He died from the accident.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> After Kivilev's death, the UCI made the wearing of helmets compulsory.<ref name="kiv_helmets">Template:Cite book</ref>