CYCLISTS from Latvia

Top 9

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Latvian Cyclists of all time. This list of famous Latvian Cyclists is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Piotr Ugrumov (b. 1961)

With an HPI of 47.20, Piotr Ugrumov is the most famous Latvian Cyclist.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages on wikipedia.

Piotr Ugrumov (Latvian: Pēteris Ugrjumovs or Pjotrs Ugrjumovs, Russian: Пётр Угрюмов) (born 21 January 1961) is a former Russian-Latvian professional road racing cyclist who participated for Latvia after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, though he was a part of the Russian delegation at the 1996 Summer Olympics. His career as a professional lasted from 1989 to 1999, he had ten victories. Ugrumov finished second at the 1994 Tour de France. Between 1990 and 1996 he came in the Top 10 of seven Grand Tours, four in the Giro, two in the Tour and one in the Vuelta. Ugrjumovs was born in Riga to a Russian father and Belarusian mother, and attended Riga Secondary School No. 28. He has lived in Italy since 1989. In 1997, Ugrjumovs' old Soviet passport expired and he took up Russian citizenship, but in 2005 he was awarded Latvian citizenship under the name of Pēteris Ugrjumovs and pledged to renounce the Russian one.

2. Romāns Vainšteins (b. 1973)

With an HPI of 40.75, Romāns Vainšteins is the 2nd most famous Latvian Cyclist.  His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

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

3. Dainis Ozols (b. 1966)

With an HPI of 37.41, Dainis Ozols is the 3rd most famous Latvian Cyclist.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Dainis Ozols (born 11 September 1966) is a former professional cyclist from Latvia. In the 1992 Summer Olympics he won a bronze medal in the 194 km road race, finishing in 4:32:24, 3 seconds behind Erik Dekker of the Netherlands and 4 seconds behind the winner Fabio Casartelli of Italy. He competed in one Grand Tour in his career: the 1995 Vuelta a España, where he finished 50th overall. His surname is often misspelled as Ozolos and he is often incorrectly identified as having Polish or Lithuanian Nationality. Early in his amateur career, he did race as a national of the USSR.

4. Aleksejs Saramotins (b. 1982)

With an HPI of 34.41, Aleksejs Saramotins is the 4th most famous Latvian Cyclist.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Aleksejs Saramotins (born 8 April 1982) is a Latvian professional road cyclist, who last rode for UCI Continental team Interpro Cycling Academy. He has won the Latvian National Road Race Championships on seven occasions and has represented his country at the Summer Olympic Games and the UCI Road World Championships.

5. Māris Štrombergs (b. 1987)

With an HPI of 33.84, Māris Štrombergs is the 5th most famous Latvian Cyclist.  His biography has been translated into 28 different languages.

Māris Štrombergs (born 10 March 1987) is a Latvian former professional BMX racer. In the 2008 Summer Olympics he became the first Olympic champion in BMX cycling. Earlier that year he won the 2008 UCI BMX World Championships. In 2012 he prolonged his Olympic title by winning the gold medal in the London Olympics. Štrombergs was born in Valmiera. His first trainer was Raimonds Ciesnieks. However, the longest collaboration was with Ivo Lakučs. Māris Štrombergs completed the Olympic 2008 BMX in about 36 seconds. Māris completed the Olympic 2012 BMX course in 37.576 seconds. Upon returning from the 2012 Olympics he was greeted by thousands of fans in hometown Valmiera. On November 13, 2018 Māris Štrombergs announced his retirement.

6. Raivis Belohvoščiks (b. 1976)

With an HPI of 33.29, Raivis Belohvoščiks is the 6th most famous Latvian Cyclist.  His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Raivis Belohvoščiks (born 21 January 1976) is a Latvian former professional road cyclist who specialized in individual time trial events. He is ten-time Latvian national time trial champion. In 2006 he signed a 2-year contract with UCI ProTour team Saunier Duval–Prodir, but this was not renewed for the 2009 season. In 2010, he rode for Ceramica Flaminia. He didn't achieve any major results in his first Tour de France. He was 40th in the first time trial around Metz. He was one of the major victims of the Passage du Gois in stage 2, and arrived last in stage 6 to Maubeuge. He left the race during the stage (10) to L'Alpe d'Huez.

7. Gatis Smukulis (b. 1987)

With an HPI of 33.13, Gatis Smukulis is the 7th most famous Latvian Cyclist.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Gatis Smukulis (born 15 April 1987) is a Latvian former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2009 and 2018 for the Ag2r–La Mondiale, HTC–Highroad, Team Katusha, Astana and Delko–Marseille Provence KTM teams. Smukulis won the Latvian National Road Race Championships in 2016, and won six consecutive Latvian National Time Trial Championships between 2011 and 2016.

8. Toms Skujiņš (b. 1991)

With an HPI of 30.23, Toms Skujiņš is the 8th most famous Latvian Cyclist.  His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Toms Skujiņš (born 15 June 1991) is a Latvian professional road racing cyclist, who rides for UCI WorldTeam Lidl–Trek. Two-time Latvian champion in group and four-time individual race. He has competed in a multi-day cycle race Tour de France five times.

9. Krists Neilands (b. 1994)

With an HPI of 27.79, Krists Neilands is the 9th most famous Latvian Cyclist.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Krists Neilands (born 18 August 1994) is a Latvian cyclist, who rides for UCI ProTeam Israel–Premier Tech.