Andrei Kivilev
Encyclopedia
Andrei Kivilev was a professional road bicycle racer from Taldykorgan
, Kazakhstan
. In March 2003, he fell heavily 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.
, Almaty
, Kivilev began his amateur racing career in Spain, before moving to France, where he wore the EC Saint-Etienne jersey. In 1993, he had a successful Regio-Tour
as part of a successful tour for the Kazakh team: Kivilev won the points competition; team mate Alexandre Vinokourov won the combined competition; and the team won the team competition. 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 and seventh at the Critérium International. Despite his lack of professional victories, Kivilev attracted admirers for his riding style, and despite interest from US Postal Service
, 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
, 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
, 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. 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.
and Saint-Étienne
. Approximately forty kilometres from the stage finish, as the peloton passed through Saint-Chamond
, Kivilev collided with Polish team mate Marek Rutkiewicz
and German
Volker Ordowski
of Team Gerolsteiner
, although they were not seriously hurt and finished the stage. The helmet-less Kivilev hit the ground, and did not rise. Kivilev immediately fell into a coma
, initially being taken to the Saint-Chamond hospital before being transferred via air to the intensive care unit at Saint-Étienne hospital, where he was diagnosed with a serious skull fracture and two broken ribs. His condition worsened overnight, and Kivilev died of his injuries at 10am on March 12, 2003. He was survived by his wife Natalia and six month old son Leonardo. A few days later his friend, Alexander Vinokourov
, won the race.
, which started just eight weeks after Kivilev's death. Dissension to the rule was initially high. The new rules were affirmed in October 2003. Whilst at first the rule was loose and not tightly enforced, especially on mountain-top finishes, it has since been enforced more and helmet-wearing is now ubiquitous in the peloton
.
2001
2002
2003
Taldykorgan
Taldykorgan , formerly known as Taldy-Kurgan , is the administrative center of Almaty Province, Kazakhstan. It has a population of 118,400 . Most of the people are Kazakhs.-Education:...
, Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...
. In March 2003, he fell heavily during the Paris–Nice race and subsequently died of his injuries. His death was the trigger for the UCI
Union Cycliste Internationale
Union Cycliste Internationale is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland....
to implement the compulsory wearing of helmets
Bicycle helmet
A bicycle helmet is a helmet intended to be worn while riding a bicycle. They are designed to attenuate impacts to the skull of a cyclist in falls while minimizing side effects such as interference with peripheral vision...
in all endorsed races.
Career
Born in TaldykorganTaldykorgan
Taldykorgan , formerly known as Taldy-Kurgan , is the administrative center of Almaty Province, Kazakhstan. It has a population of 118,400 . Most of the people are Kazakhs.-Education:...
, Almaty
Almaty
Almaty , also known by its former names Verny and Alma-Ata , is the former capital of Kazakhstan and the nation's largest city, with a population of 1,348,500...
, Kivilev began his amateur racing career in Spain, before moving to France, where he wore the EC Saint-Etienne jersey. In 1993, he had a successful Regio-Tour
Regio-Tour
The Regio-Tour is a multi-stage road bicycle race held between France, Switzerland and Germany. It was first held in 1985 and since 2005 it has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour...
as part of a successful tour for the Kazakh team: Kivilev won the points competition; team mate Alexandre Vinokourov won the combined competition; and the team won the team competition. He secured a professional contract with Festina
Festina
thumb|right|Festina watchesFestina is a watch company. It was founded in 1902 in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland.The manufacture's motto was Festina Lente . In 1984, Spanish industrialist Miguel Rodriguez, already owner of Lotus watches bought Festina and created the group Festina Lotus S.A....
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 and seventh at the Critérium International. Despite his lack of professional victories, Kivilev attracted admirers for his riding style, and despite interest from US Postal Service
Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team
Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team was a United States-based professional road bicycle racing team. It was the continuation of the 2004 U.S. Postal Service Pro Cycling Team. Lance Armstrong, seven-time Tour de France winner, was its leader until July 2005...
, signed with Ag2r Prévoyance
AG2R Prévoyance
Ag2r-La Mondiale is a French cycling team with UCI ProTour team status. Its title sponsors are the Ag2r Group, which is a French-based interprofessional insurance and supplementary retirement fund group, and the La Mondiale Group, which is a French-based international group for supplementary...
in 2000, before moving to Cofidis
Cofidis (cycling team)
Cofidis, Le Crédit en Ligne is a French professional road bicycle racing team sponsored by a money-lending company, Cofidis. It was started in 1996 by Cyrille Guimard the former manager of Bernard Hinault, Greg LeMond and Laurent Fignon of the Renault-Elf team of the 1980s...
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
Route du Sud
The Route du Sud is a road bicycle race held annually in Southern France. It was first held in 1977 and since 2005 it has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour...
and stage five of the Dauphiné Libéré
Dauphiné Libéré
The Critérium du Dauphiné is an annual cycling road race, run over eight stages in the Dauphiné region in France during the first half of June. The race was inaugurated by a local newspaper, the Dauphiné Libéré, which gave its name to the event...
race, between Romans-sur-Isère
Romans-sur-Isère
Romans-sur-Isère or Romans is a commune in the Drôme department in southeastern France.-Geography:...
and Grenoble
Grenoble
Grenoble is a city in southeastern France, at the foot of the French Alps where the river Drac joins the Isère. Located in the Rhône-Alpes region, Grenoble is the capital of the department of Isère...
, but also had a sensational performance in the Tour de France
2001 Tour de France
The 2001 Tour de France was particularly difficult, having contained a 67-km long team time trial, two individual time trials and five mountain-top finishes on consecutive days, the second of which being the Chamrousse special category climb time trial. Thus, all the high-mountain stages were...
. Having lost over eighteen minutes on a windswept and attritional stage 4 between Huy
Huy
Huy is a municipality of Belgium. It lies in the country's Walloon Region and Province of Liege. Huy lies along the river Meuse, at the mouth of the small river Hoyoux. It is in the sillon industriel, the former industrial backbone of Wallonia, home to about two-thirds of the Walloon population...
and Verdun
Verdun
Verdun is a city in the Meuse department in Lorraine in north-eastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital of the department is the slightly smaller city of Bar-le-Duc.- History :...
, Kivilev was allowed to form part of a fourteen man breakaway on stage 8 between Colmar
Colmar
Colmar is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.It is the capital of the department. Colmar is also the seat of the highest jurisdiction in Alsace, the appellate court....
and Pontarlier
Pontarlier
Pontarlier is a commune and one of the two sub-prefectures of the Doubs department in the Franche-Comté region in eastern France.-History:...
and gained 33 minutes on the race favourites. 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
Joseba Beloki
Joseba Beloki Dorronsoro is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer.-Biography:Beloki turned professional in 1998 with Euskaltel-Euskadi, joined Festina in 2000, and then Team ONCE in 2001...
on the final time trial. Nevertheless, Kivilev finished the tour in 4th position.
Death
On March 11, 2003, Kivilev was racing in the second stage of Paris–Nice, between La ClayetteLa Clayette
La Clayette is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne in eastern France.-Geography:La Clayette is situated in the Brionnais area, in the south-west of the Saône-et-Loire département.-Access:...
and Saint-Étienne
Saint-Étienne
Saint-Étienne is a city in eastern central France. It is located in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon in the Rhône-Alpes region, along the trunk road that connects Toulouse with Lyon...
. Approximately forty kilometres from the stage finish, as the peloton passed through Saint-Chamond
Saint-Chamond
Saint-Chamond is a commune in the Loire department in the Rhône-Alpes region in central France.-Overview:It is situated 13 km east of the city of Saint-Étienne and approximately 45 km southwest of Lyon...
, Kivilev collided with Polish team mate Marek Rutkiewicz
Marek Rutkiewicz
Marek Rutkiewicz is a Polish road racing cyclist for UCI Professional Continental team . Rutkiewicz's strength lies in climbing and his victories have come in hilly races, including the mountains classification at the 2009 Tour de Pologne.- Palmarès :- External links :...
and German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Volker Ordowski
Volker Ordowski
Volker Ordowski is a German former professional road bicycle racer, retiring after riding for UCI ProTeam Gerolsteiner for ten seasons.- Palmares :* Esslingen - 1 stage...
of Team Gerolsteiner
Team Gerolsteiner
Gerolsteiner was a German road bicycle racing team in the UCI ProTour. It was sponsored by the mineral water company Gerolsteiner Brunnen and Specialized....
, although they were not seriously hurt and finished the stage. The helmet-less Kivilev hit the ground, and did not rise. Kivilev immediately fell into a coma
Coma
In medicine, a coma is a state of unconsciousness, lasting more than 6 hours in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light or sound, lacks a normal sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. A person in a state of coma is described as...
, initially being taken to the Saint-Chamond hospital before being transferred via air to the intensive care unit at Saint-Étienne hospital, where he was diagnosed with a serious skull fracture and two broken ribs. His condition worsened overnight, and Kivilev died of his injuries at 10am on March 12, 2003. He was survived by his wife Natalia and six month old son Leonardo. A few days later his friend, Alexander Vinokourov
Alexander Vinokourov
Alexander Nikolaevich Vinokourov, also written Alexandre Vinokourov, is an ethnically Russian Kazakhstani professional road bicycle racer who currently competes with the UCI ProTeam Astana...
, won the race.
Legacy
After Kivilev's death, the UCI made the wearing of helmets compulsory. They had previously tried to introduce this requirement in 1991, however, riders protested this at the Paris–Nice race, so the rule was not introduced. The nature of Kivilev's death, in that he was a lead rider, in one of the top French cycling teams, racing in a top stage race, coupled with advances in helmet technology, brought the debate back to the fore and conclusively so for the UCI. Whilst many riders were initially still against compulsory helmet use, the UCI ensured the rules requiring helmets to be worn at all times would be in place for the 2003 Giro d'Italia2003 Giro d'Italia
The 2003 Giro d'Italia of cycling, the 86th running of the race, was held from 10 May to 1 June 2003, consisting of 21 stages for a total of 3,472 km, ridden at an average speed of 38.828 km/h. It was won by Gilberto Simoni....
, which started just eight weeks after Kivilev's death. Dissension to the rule was initially high. The new rules were affirmed in October 2003. Whilst at first the rule was loose and not tightly enforced, especially on mountain-top finishes, it has since been enforced more and helmet-wearing is now ubiquitous in the peloton
Peloton
The peloton , field, bunch or pack is the large main group of riders in a road bicycle race. Riders in a group save energy by riding close near other riders...
.
Palmarès
1998- Vuelta Ciclista de Chile1998 Vuelta Ciclista de ChileThe 21st edition of the Vuelta Ciclista de Chile was held from March 19 to March 29, 1998 in Southern Chile over a distance of 1519 km.-1999-03-19: Pelluco — Puerto Montt :-1999-03-20: Puerto Montt — Osorno :...
- 2nd overall
2001
- Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré - Winner, stage 5; 5th overall
- Route du Sud - 1st overall
- Tour de France - 4th overall
2002
- Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré - 5th overall
- Route du Sud - 3rd overall
- Clásica de San Sebastián - 4th
- Paris–Nice - 4th overall
2003
- Tour du Haut Var - 3rd overall