Frenchman,105, pedals into history books

A 105-YEAR-OLD Frenchman set a new one-hour cycling record for his age on Wednesday – although Robert Marchand was already in a class of his own.

Marchand pedall e d f or 22.547 kilometres (14.01 miles) in the national velodrome in Sai nt - Quentin- e n- Yvel i nes west of Paris to the cheers of hundreds of spectators – and when he had finished he said he could have gone faster.

“I didn’t see the sign saying there were 10 minutes to go, otherwise I would have speeded up,” the wiry champion told a scrum of reporters who surrounded him at the finish.

Marchand dismounted and a lthough a coach put a steady i ng a r m a rou nd h i m, he walked off t he track wit hout dif f icult y.

“I’m not tired, my legs aren’t hurting, but my arms are. It has to hurt somewhere!” he said after doing 92 laps of the track.

“I feel emotional – and I’m even asking myself if all this is real!” said Marchand, who was born in 1911, three years before World War I began.

When a reporter asked if he was going to do another lap, he said emphatically: “No!”

Age is slowing him though – three years ago he managed to ride 26.927 km in one hour, a record for someone aged over 100.

No rivals

There was no known existing mark for someone of 105, so Marchand truly blazed a trail on Wednesday.

“Now I’ll wait and see if anyone wants to take me on,” he said with a chuckle.

By comparison, the onehour world record is 54.526 kilometres, set by British Tour de France winner and multiple Olympic gold medallist Bradley Wiggins at the age of 35.

Marchand, a retired firefighter who was a national gymnastics champion and a boxer, attributes his enduring fitness to a healthy diet – and lots of exercise.

“I’ve done sport all my life, eaten loads of fruit and vegetables, not too much coffee,” he said before the record attempt.

“I [cycle] between 10 and 20 kilometres a day, but I don’t train outside. I’m afraid I might catch flu!”

One of his coaches, Jea nMichel Richefort, said he felt “rea lly emotional” about his n o t - s o - y o u n g c h a r g e ’s achievement.

“He went off very fast and I was afraid he’d have cramp. But he kept his form, he was very focused and he followed a perfect line,” he said.

As the celebrations contin- ued, Marchand was asked if he now had his eye on the record for 110-year-olds.

“It’s a long way off – let’s talk about it at a later date,” he said.