Former road race world champion sentenced to four months in prison
CyclingWednesday, 12 March 2025 at 10:11
Many long-time cycling fans may remember the name of 2000 World Championship road race winner Romāns Vainšteins. The Latvian, who secured the Rainbow Jersey in Plouay a quarter of a century ago, has now been sentenced to prison.
Vainsteins was a star of the professional peloton between 1997 and 2004. Alongside his aforementioned Rainbow Jersey win, he also won four stages of Tirreno-Adriatico over the years, plus a Grand Tour stage at the Giro d'Italia in 1999 and other notably races such as Paris-Brussels, Coppa Bernocchi and more in a career that totalled 22 victories in all.
It seems though, his life has gone wrong in recent years. According to Italian news outlet Corriere, the now-52-year-old Latvian was arrested as he landed at the airport in his nation's capital city of Riga. The ex-rider is now set to serve four months in prison for failing to pay alimony to his family.
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