| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Romāns Vainšteins | ||||||||||||||
| Born | 3 March 1973 | ||||||||||||||
| Cycling career | |||||||||||||||
| Sport | Cycling | ||||||||||||||
| 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Road race, National Road Championships
Road race, UCI Road World Championships| Grand Tour | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Giro d'Italia |
DNF | — | — | — | — |
 Tour de France |
— | 93 | 132 | — | 116 |
 Vuelta a España |
— | — | — | — | — |
| 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 |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
