Otegemnaar Wout Alleman is crowned European marathon mountain bike champion

Otegemnaar Alleman, stage winner in the iconic South African Cape Epic for the second time in his career earlier this year, had a lead of more than two minutes over Italian Fabian Rabensteiner, the outgoing European marathon champion, after a race of 95 kilometers at the European Championships . The German Simon Schneller was third almost five minutes behind. The 27-year-old West-Flanders nevertheless had a difficult preparation for the European Championship: due to the injuries he sustained in mid-May in a crash in the World Cup round in Nove Mesto in the Czech Republic, he had to cancel, among other things, the multi-day Belgian BeMC. Only last week did Alleman resume the competition in the Italian Finale Ligure, with a sixth place. The marathon is the long distance of mountain biking. The World Cup in that mountain bike branch will take place in August during the Super World Championship cycling in Glasgow, UK.