3/12 ~ Dear readers of LA.com,
I want to tell you a little about Andrei Kivilev... I came to know Andrei quite well over the years
and really admired him and his style. Andrei was unique you see - he was smart, he was perfectly
fluent in English (which I suspect is not normal for a young Kazak), and man was he aggressive. I
loved to race with him because you knew when he was in the race, and when the road went uphill, he
would lay it all out. Man, was he an attacker! He helped me more then he (or anyone) will ever know
- and now he's gone.
After a crash yesterday that seemed to be quite serious, he took a turn for the worst in the night
and passed away this morning. I just got off the phone with Johan who told me the bad news, and I'm
devastated. The other side to this is that I know exactly what his teammates and friends are
feeling. Images and memories of Fabio Casartelli came rushing back. And of course, Andrei rode for
Cofidis, a team which I have enough of a history with. But I can tell you that no matter how ugly
it's been between them and myself, I would never in my life wish this on anyone. No way.
We (Johan and I) tried like hell to get Andrei to come to the team a few years back when he was with
Festina. We lost out on the bidding to AG2R and he slipped away from us. We still talk about him and
wish we could have had him. He was our kind of man. Consistent, tough, hard working, and a very cool
dude. Andrei, I'm gonna miss you my friend. I will look for you at the base of every hard climb I do
now, and I will wish with all my heart that you were there to "light it up" or "open it up" like you
have done so many times in the past. Rest in peace...
Is there an insurance/pension fund to take care of riders who are incapacitated, or thier families
if they are killed? Bill C