Cyclist Andrei Kivilev died on Wednesday after a crash during the second stage of the Paris-Nice race on Tuesday had left him in a coma. The 29-year-old Kazakhstan rider, leader of the Cofidis team, sustained serious head injuries in a fall following a collision with another rider around 40 km from the finish of Tuesday's stage.
He had not been wearing a helmet and went into a coma immediately. Kivilev underwent surgery at the Saint-Etienne hospital overnight but his state worsened and he died this morning.
Excellent in the mountains, the Kazakh finished fourth in the Tour de France in 2001. He is the first cyclist to die in competition since Spanish sprinter Manuel San Roma in the Tour de Catalunya in 1999 and leaves a six-month-old son Leonard.
Filed by Shane Murray
