Venice Marathon: Faniel, a local, wins after favourites take wrong turn

Italian Eyob Faniel won the Venice Marathon on Sunday after a bizarre incident in which the leading six runners took a wrong turn.

Favorites Abdulahl Dawud, Gilbert Kipleting Chumba, Kipkemei Mutai and David Kiprono Metto were among the leading group which followed a motorcycle off the course after 25 kilometers (16 miles), covering several hundred meters before being made aware of their error and turning back. They lost around 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 Mohammed Mussa, who he immediately dropped.

The 25-year-old Faniel went on to become the first Italian to win the race in 22 years.

Faniel finished in 2 hours, 12 minutes, 16 seconds, beating Mussa by nearly two minutes. Tariq Bamaarouf was third, just ahead of Chumba.