Romāns Vainšteins (born 3 March 1973) is a former professional

road bicycle racer Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most com ...

from

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

. He won the road race at the 2000 World Cycling Championship.

Career

He won the road race at the 2000 World Cycling Championship in Plouay, France. At the end of the race, he won the sprint for the line ahead of Zbigniew Spruch and defending champion

Óscar Freire Óscar Freire Gómez (born 15 February 1976) is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer. He was one of the top sprinters in road bicycle racing, having won the world championship three times, equalling Alfredo Binda, Rik Van Steenbe ...

. Following his world title, Vainšteins moved to the team under Patrick Lefevere. Even with some impressive results, such as third place in the 2001 Paris–Roubaix, he was unable to follow up on the success of his world championship. He left the team after the 2002 season and raced with Vini Caldirola and for two more years before retiring. In 2017, Vainsteins returned to Latvia to work as the coach of the Latvian national cycling team after his unanimously appointment as head coach of the men’s national team. He also helped with coaching the under-23, junior, youth, and women’s teams.

Controversy

In March 2025, Vainšteins was arrested at Orio al Serio airport in

Bergamo Bergamo ( , ; ) is a city in the Alps, alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from the alpine lakes Lake Como, Como and Lake Iseo, Iseo and 70 km (43 mi) from Lake Garda, Garda and Lake ...

, Italy, after landing on a flight from

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

, after his ex-wife, a former Italian resident, filed a case against him over non-payment of his child support obligation. Some reports suggested that the figure he owes was close €70,000. The couple had divorced in 2001. In 2018, he was sentenced to a four-month prison sentence and a €300 euro fine, and a warrant was issued for his arrest over non-payment, but he did not serve the sentence.

Major results

;1995 : 1st Circuit Franco-Belge ;1996 : 3rd Memorial Van Coningsloo ;1998 : 1st GP Industria & Artigianato di Larciano : 1st Grand Prix Aarhus : 3rd Road race, National Road Championships ;1999 : 1st MaillotLetonia

Road race, National Road Championships : 1st Overall Settimana internazionale di Coppi e Bartali : 1st

Paris–Brussels The Brussels Cycling Classic (known until June 2013 as Paris–Brussels) is a semi classic European bicycle race, one of the oldest races on the international calendar. History Paris–Brussels was first run on 12 August 1893 as an amateur eve ...

: 1st

Grand Prix of Aargau Canton Grand Prix of Aargau Canton () is a semi classic European bicycle race held in Aargau canton, one of the more northerly cantons of Switzerland. The race consists of fifteen laps around the Swiss town of Gippingen, which belongs to the municipa ...

: 1st Stage 6

Giro d'Italia The Giro d'Italia (; ), also known simply as the Giro, is an annual stage race, multiple-stage bicycle racing, bicycle race primarily held in Italy, while also starting in, or passing through, other countries. The first race was organized in 19 ...

Tirreno–Adriatico Tirreno–Adriatico, nicknamed the "Race of the Two Seas", is an elite road bicycle racing, road cycling stage race in Italy, run between the Tyrrhenian Sea, Tyrrhenian and Adriatic Sea, Adriatic coasts. Traditionally held in the early part of th ...

::1st Stages 1 & 6 : 1st

Gran Premio di Chiasso The Gran Premio di Chiasso () was an annual road bicycle race held in Chiasso, Switzerland. It was a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by ...

: 2nd Giro del Lago Maggiore : 3rd

HEW Cyclassics The Hamburg Cyclassics (currently known as the Bemer Cyclassics for sponsorship purposes) is an annual one-day professional and amateur road bicycle race, cycling race in and around Hamburg, Germany. Although the route varies, its distance is alw ...

: 3rd

Coppa Bernocchi The Coppa Bernocchi is a European Road bicycle racing, bicycle race held in Legnano, Italy. From 2005 to 2019, the race was organised as a UCI race classifications, 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour, before joining the UCI ProSeries in 2020. In 1 ...

: 4th

Trofeo Melinda Trofeo Melinda was a single-day road bicycle race held annually in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, Italy. After 2005, the race was organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing com ...

: 5th

Gent–Wevelgem Gent–Wevelgem, officially Gent–Wevelgem – In Flanders Fields, is a road bicycle racing, road cycling race in Belgium, held annually since 1934. It is one of the classic cycle races, classic races part of the Flemish Cycling Week, run in late ...

;2000 : 1st Jersey rainbow

Road race,

UCI Road World Championships The UCI Road World Championships are the annual world championships for bicycle road racing organized by the (UCI). The UCI Road World Championships consist of events for road race and individual time trial, and , a UCI Road World Championships ...

: 1st

: 2nd Overall

Rheinland-Pfalz Rundfahrt The International Rheinland-Pfalz Rundfahrt was a stage race, multi-stage road bicycle racing, road bicycle race held in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. In the years from 1966 to 2007, it was considered one of the biggest sporting events in Rhine ...

::1st Stages 1 & 2 : 2nd Overall Three Days of De Panne : 2nd Gran Premio Bruno Beghelli : 3rd

Tour of Flanders The Tour of Flanders () may refer to the following cycle races: * Tour of Flanders (men's race) The Tour of Flanders (), also known as ''De Ronde'' (''"The Tour"''), is an annual road bicycle racing, road cycling race held in Belgium every spri ...

: 3rd

Clásica de San Sebastián The Donostia-Donostia Klasikoa — Clásica San Sebastián-San Sebastián (San Sebastián Classic) is a one-day professional men's bicycle road race in northern Spain that has been held every summer since 1981 in San Sebastián. It is the m ...

: 3rd Classic Haribo : 4th

Amstel Gold Race Amstel Gold Race may refer to: * Amstel Gold Race (men's race) The Amstel Gold Race is a one-day classic cycle races, classic road bicycle race, road cycling race held annually since 1966 Amstel Gold Race, 1966 in the province of Limburg (Netherl ...

: 4th Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne : 5th Omloop Het Volk : 5th

: 6th Overall

Ronde van Nederland The Tour of the Netherlands ''(Dutch: Ronde van Nederland)'' was a road bicycle racing stage-race in the Netherlands, founded in 1948 in sports, 1948. It was an annual race since 1975 in sports, 1975. Because of the start of the Union Cycliste ...

: 9th

Milan–San Remo Milan–Sanremo (in italian language, Italian ''Milano-Sanremo''), also called "''The Spring classic''" or "''La Classicissima''", is an annual road bicycle racing, road cycling race between Milan and Sanremo, in Northwest Italy. With a distance ...

: 10th Overall

::1st Stage 8 : 10th

: 10th Züri–Metzgete ;2001 : 1st Stage 3

Volta a Catalunya The Volta a Catalunya (; Tour of Catalonia, ) is a road bicycle race held annually in Catalonia, Spain. It is one of three World Tour stage races in Spain, together with the Vuelta a España and the Tour of the Basque Country. The race has had ...

: 1st Stage 6

: 2nd

: 3rd Overall

UCI Road World Cup The UCI Road World Cup was a season-long Road bicycle racing, road cycling competition held from 1989 until 2004 and comprising ten one-day events. The World Cup was made up of around ten Road bicycle racing, one-day races chosen from the prest ...

: 3rd

Paris–Roubaix Paris–Roubaix is a one-day professional bicycle road race in northern France, starting north of Paris and finishing in Roubaix, at the border with Belgium. It is one of cycling's oldest races, and is one of the 'Cycling monument, Monuments' ...

;2002 : 3rd

Time trial In many racing sports, an sportsperson, athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial (TT) against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athle ...

, National Road Championships : 5th

Paris–Tours Paris–Tours is a French one-day classic road cycling race held every October from the outskirts of Paris to the cathedral city of Tours. It is a predominantly flat course through the Chevreuse and Loire valleys; the highest point is 200 m ...

;2003 : 1st Stage 4 Giro Della Provincia Di Lucca ;2004 : 5th

Grand Prix de Fourmies The Grand Prix de Fourmies is a bicycle race held in the Fourmies commune of France. From 2005 to 2019 it was organised as a 1.HC event on the UCI Europe Tour. In 2021, it joined the UCI ProSeries The UCI ProSeries is the second tier men's ...

: 7th

Grand Tour results

Classics results timeline

References

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vainsteins, Romans 1973 births Living people Sportspeople from Talsi 21st-century Latvian Jews Latvian male cyclists Olympic cyclists for Latvia Jewish Latvian sportspeople UCI Road World Champions (elite men) Cyclists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Latvian Giro d'Italia stage winners

Career

Controversy

Major results

Grand Tour results

Classics results timeline

See also

References

External links