 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Андрей Михайлович Кивилев |
| Born | (1973-09-21)21 September 1973 Taldykorgan,Kazakh SSR,Soviet Union |
| Died | 12 March 2003(2003-03-12) (aged 29) Saint-Étienne, France |
| Team information | |
| Discipline | Road |
| Role | Rider |
| Professional teams | |
| 1998–1999 | Festina–Lotus |
| 2000 | Ag2r |
| 2001–2003 | Cofidis |
| Major wins | |
| Route du Sud (2001) | |
Andrei Mikhailovich Kivilev (Андрей Михайлович Кивилёв, 20 September 1973 – 12 March 2003) was a professionalroad bicycle racer fromTaldykorgan,Kazakhstan. In March 2003, he crashed during theParis–Nice race and subsequently died of his injuries. His death was the trigger for theUCI to implement the compulsory wearing ofhelmets in all endorsed races.
Born inTaldykorgan,Almaty Province, Kivilev began his amateur racing career in Spain (Cropusa-Burgos), before moving to France, where he wore the EC Saint-Étienne jersey.[1] In 1993, he had a successfulRegio-Tour as part of a successful tour for the Kazakh team: Kivilev won the points competition; teammateAlexander Vinokourov won the combined competition; and the team won the team competition.[2] He secured a professional contract withFestina 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[3] and seventh at the Critérium International.[4] Despite his lack of professional victories, Kivilev attracted admirers for his riding style, and despite interest fromUS Postal Service,[5] signed withAg2r Prévoyance in 2000, before moving toCofidis in 2001. It was at Cofidis that his career started to take off: in his first season, not only did he win theRoute du Sud and stage five of theDauphiné Libéré race, betweenRomans-sur-Isère andGrenoble,[6] but also had a sensational performance in theTour de France. Having lost over eighteen minutes on a windswept and attritional stage 4 betweenHuy andVerdun,[7] Kivilev was allowed to form part of a fourteen-man breakaway on stage 8 betweenColmar andPontarlier and gained 33 minutes on the race favourites.[8] Kivilev was an ableclimber, and limited his losses on the big hills. His time trialling let him down when he lost a podium place toJoseba Beloki on the final time trial. Nevertheless, Kivilev finished the tour in 4th position.[9] In fact, with later doping scandals eliminating those ahead of him on the podium, the French newspaperLe Monde retroactively (and unofficially) named Kivilev winner of the 2001 Tour de France.[10]
Kivilev crashed in the 2003 edition ofParis–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.[11] After Kivilev's death, the UCI made the wearing of helmets compulsory.[12]
OverallTour of Turkey
OverallRoute du Sud
