Romāns Vainšteins
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Romāns Vainšteins | ||||||||||||||
| Born | 3 March 1973 Talsi, Latvian SSR | ||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||
| Discipline | Road | ||||||||||||||
| Role | Rider | ||||||||||||||
| Professional teams | |||||||||||||||
| 1997 | Team Polti | ||||||||||||||
| 1998 | Kross–Selle Italia | ||||||||||||||
| 1999–2000 | Vini Caldirola | ||||||||||||||
| 2001–2002 | Domo–Farm Frites–Latexco | ||||||||||||||
| 2003 | Vini Caldirola–So.di | ||||||||||||||
| 2004 | Lampre | ||||||||||||||
| Major wins | |||||||||||||||
Grand Tours
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Medal record
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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
[edit]He won the road race at the 2000 World Cycling Championship in Plouay, France. At the end of the 268.8 km (167.0 mi) race, he won the sprint for the line ahead of Zbigniew Spruch and defending champion Óscar Freire.[1]
Following his world title, Vainšteins moved to the Domo–Farm Frites–Latexco 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 Lampre for two more years before retiring.[2]
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.[3]
Controversy
[edit]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.[4]
Major results
[edit]- 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
Road race, National Road Championships - 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
Road race, UCI Road World Championships - 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
[edit]| Grand Tour | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Giro d'Italia
|
DNF | — | — | — | — |
 Tour de France
|
— | 93 | 132 | — | 116 |
 Vuelta a España
|
— | — | — | — | — |
Classics results timeline
[edit]| Monument | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milan–San Remo | 41 | 9 | 3 | — | 73 | 7 |
| Tour of Flanders | 25 | 3 | 10 | — | 18 | 31 |
| Paris–Roubaix | — | 14 | 3 | — | 6 | 11 |
| Liège–Bastogne–Liège | — | — | — | — | 50 | DNF |
| Giro di Lombardia | — | 33 | DNF | DNF | DNF | — |
| Classic | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 |
| Gent–Wevelgem | 5 | — | 13 | — | — | DNF |
| Brabantse Pijl | Did not contest during his career | |||||
| Amstel Gold Race | 16 | 4 | DNF | — | 28 | 54 |
| La Flèche Wallonne | — | — | — | — | 55 | DNF |
| Clásica de San Sebastián | — | 3 | — | 118 | 87 | — |
| HEW Cyclassics | 3 | 10 | 2 | 10 | DNF | — |
| Paris–Tours | 33 | 68 | 6 | 5 | — | — |
| 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | |
| UCI Road World Championships | 29 | 1 | DNF | 32 | DNF | 60 |
| — | Did not compete |
|---|---|
| DNF | Did not finish |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Serisier, Pierre (16 October 2000). "Latvian sprints to world title". The Independent. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
- ^ Benson, Daniel (7 November 2016). "Eight of cycling's most glorious transfer failures". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
- ^ Hansen, Matt (12 March 2025). "Former pro road world champion arrested and sent to prison". Cycling Magazine. Retrieved 26 April 2025.
- ^ Fotheringham, Alasdair (March 12, 2025). "Former World Champion Romans Vainsteins faces four months in prison for defaulting on family support payments". Cycling News. Retrieved 26 April 2025.
External links
[edit]- Official Website (in Italian)
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
