Andrei Kivilev remembered 20 years on from his death at Paris-Nice Kazakh rider’s death during 2003 edition led to helmets being made obligatory in racing On the 20th anniversary of his death during the 2003 edition of Paris-Nice, an emotional tribute was paid to Andrei Kivilev on the start podium prior to the final stage of ‘the race to the sun’. In the presence of Kivilev’s wife, Natalia, and Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme, Astana-Qazaqstan team boss Alexandre Vinokourov, the Kazakh’s compatriot, close friend and winner of that 2003 race, recalled how this year’s race had passed close to the place where Kivilev crashed on a stage into Saint-Étienne two decades ago and described the sport as “hard, complicated and dangerous”. Kivilev crashed when the rider in front of him suffered a mechanical problem just as the Kazakh had taken his hands from his bars to adjust his earpiece. Transported to hospital in Saint-Étienne, which was his adopted home in France and where his wife and six-month-old son had been waiting for him at the finish line, Kivilev died during that night.