Romāns Vainšteins

Romāns Vainšteins (born 3 March 1973) is a former professional road bicycle racer from Latvia. 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.

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, Italy, after landing on a flight from Riga, 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 Overall Settimana internazionale di Coppi e Bartali 1st Paris–Brussels 1st Grand Prix of Aargau Canton 1st Stage 6 Giro d'Italia Tirreno–Adriatico 1st Stages 1 & 6 1st Gran Premio di Chiasso 2nd Giro del Lago Maggiore 3rd HEW Cyclassics 3rd Coppa Bernocchi 4th Trofeo Melinda 5th Gent–Wevelgem 2000

1st Coppa Bernocchi 2nd Overall Rheinland-Pfalz Rundfahrt 1st Stages 1 & 2 2nd Overall Three Days of De Panne 2nd Gran Premio Bruno Beghelli 3rd Tour of Flanders 3rd Clásica de San Sebastián 3rd Classic Haribo 4th Amstel Gold Race 4th Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne 5th Omloop Het Volk 5th Grand Prix of Aargau Canton 6th Overall Ronde van Nederland 9th Milan–San Remo 10th Overall Tirreno–Adriatico 1st Stage 8 10th HEW Cyclassics 10th Züri–Metzgete 2001 1st Stage 3 Volta a Catalunya 1st Stage 6 Tirreno–Adriatico 2nd HEW Cyclassics 3rd Overall UCI Road World Cup 3rd Milan–San Remo 3rd Paris–Roubaix 2002 3rd Time trial, National Road Championships 5th Paris–Tours 2003 1st Stage 4 Giro Della Provincia Di Lucca 2004 5th Grand Prix de Fourmies 7th Milan–San Remo

Grand Tour results

Classics results timeline

+ Legend — Did not compete DNF Did not finish