On 10 March 2025, former cycling world champion Romāns Vainšteins was arrested on arrival at Orio al Serio airport in Bergamo, according to Italian media reports. The 52-year-old Latvian had just landed from Riga when he was arrested by the carabinieri of the Lecco provincial command. According to the newspaper, the reason for the arrest was L'Eco di Bergamo outstanding maintenance payments to his ex-wife and daughter totalling around 70,000 euros, as a result of which he was sentenced to four months in prison in 2018.
Romāns Vainšteins sentenced for missing maintenance payments
After separating from his wife in 2001, Vainšteins had undertaken to pay the equivalent of 516 euros per month to his daughter, who was born in 1997. According to the ex-wife's statement in court, the payments were made regularly until 2009, only sporadically from 2010 to 2012 and stopped completely from 2013. In the 2018 trial, the defence pleaded for mitigating circumstances, but was unable to prevail. The court ultimately sentenced Vainšteins to four months in prison and a fine of 300 euros for violating family support obligations. At the time, lawyer Roberta Barbieri expressed concerns about the actual enforcement of the sentence, as Vainšteins was already back in Latvia at the time.
Romāns Vainšteins: World champion 2000
Romāns Vainšteins was one of the best professional cyclists in the world at the turn of the millennium. He celebrated his greatest success in 2000 when he won the Road Cycling World Championships in Plouay, France. After 268.8 kilometres, he beat Poland's Zbigniew Spruch and defending champion Óscar Freire from Spain in the final sprint. His other major victories include Paris-Brussels, one stage at the Giro d'Italia and four at Tirreno-Adriatico.
Vainšteins began his professional career in 1999 with the Vini Caldirola-Sidermec team, for whom he also rode in the year of his World Championship triumph. After spells with Domo-Farm Frites and a return to Vini Caldirola, he ended his active career with Team Lampre in 2004.
