Eyob Faniel made history with his victory, becoming the first Italian to win the race in 22 years.
The 25-year-old of Eritrean origins won in 2 hours, 12 minutes and 16 seconds ahead of Eritrea’s Mohammed Mussa (2 hours, 15 minutes and 14 seconds) and Morocco’s Tarik Bamaarouf (2 hours, 16 minutes, 40 seconds).
Favorites Abdulahl Dawud, Gilbert Kipleting Chumba, Kipkemei Mutai and David Kiprono Metto were among the leading group which, 25 kilometres into the race, followed a motorcycle of the course.
The six athletes covered several hundred metres before being made aware of the error and turning back.
Subsequently, they lost about two minutes.
Faniel, who runs for the local Venice Marathon Club, was around a minute behind the leaders at the time, but found himself leading the race along with Mussa, who he immediately passed.
The last Italian to win the marathon was Danilo Goffi in 1992.
With ANSA
