Palante was born in Vaux-sous-Chèvremont, a suburb of Liège, Belgium, and later settled in Jeneffe in the commune of Donceel in Liège province. Trained as a secondary-school teacher specialising in history and French, he subsequently founded and operated an industrial cleaning and facility maintenance company in the Liège region. He was married and the father of five children.
His passion for off-road riding was shaped by twelve years living in Africa, where he undertook personal expedition raids across challenging terrain. In 2001 he retraced the route of Dakar Rally founder Thierry Sabine through Senegal and Mali. Palante described a philosophy of calm self-reliance, frequently citing the maxim: "Quand il n'y a plus rien à faire, rien ne sert de s'énerver" — when there is nothing more to do, there is no point in getting angry. Each Dakar campaign required approximately ten months of preparation and logistics, coordinated with around thirty local friends and sponsors he collectively called "Team Palante."
Palante first entered the Dakar Rally in 2003 and competed in eleven editions in total: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014. He raced throughout in the malle-moto classification — reserved for solo privateers who carry all their own parts and perform their own repairs without any external mechanical assistance. The category was later rebranded as Original by Motul. Dakar organisers described him as an experienced competitor who "knew the race very well," and race director Etienne Lavigne called him "a true Dakar pilot, hardened and enduring."
He rode Honda CRF450 variants for most of his Dakar career, using a KTM 450 Rally for the 2012 edition. His best overall finish was 66th in the motorcycle classification at the 2012 Dakar, run across Argentina, Chile, and Peru. He finished 69th overall in 2010 and 86th in 2009. Several editions ended in early mechanical retirement, including the 2011 and 2013 events. His stated ambition for 2014 was to win the malle-moto trophy.
During Stage 5 of the 2014 Dakar Rally — a special stage running from Chilecito in La Rioja Province to San Miguel de Tucumán in Tucumán Province, Argentina — Palante did not reach the finish line. He had been dealing with engine problems requiring overnight repairs after Stage 4, as well as a hand injury sustained earlier in the event. No distress alert was received from his tracker. His body was discovered on the morning of 10 January 2014 at approximately 08:30 local time by the broom-truck crew at the 143-kilometre mark near Belén village in Catamarca Province. He was found kneeling beside his motorcycle, which was undamaged, still in full racing gear including helmet and overalls, suggesting he had stopped riding upon sensing the onset of loss of consciousness. An autopsy conducted in Argentina confirmed the cause of death as intense hyperthermia brought on by extreme heat conditions during the stage.
A public homage ceremony was held at the Robermont crematorium in Liège on 22 January 2014, attended by family, friends, and members of the local motorsport community. The commune of Donceel observed a minute's silence at its 30 January 2014 council meeting. Palante's death, the 27th in the Dakar's history since its inception in 1978, focused renewed attention on the extreme risks faced by unsupported malle-moto riders competing without any team assistance in demanding South American conditions.