102-year-old Robert Marchand has this afternoon smashed his own age group Hour record, riding 26.925km around France’s new national velodrome at Saint Quentin en Yvelines near Paris – 10 per cent further in distance than he managed when he set his previous best two years ago at the age of 100.
Marchand’s earlier record, for a category created especially for him by the UCI, was set at the governing body’s World Cycling Centre in Aigle, Switzerland in February 2012.
That day, he rode 24.251 kilometres, saying afterwards: “I just wanted to do something for my 100th birthday.”
Remarkably, that ride came 80 years after he had last taken to the boards of a velodrome, and 86 years after his first competitive race, which he had to enter under an assumed name due to his being below the age limit for entry.
He has ridden in every edition of the Ardéchoise sportive since it was launched in 1992, when he was aged 79, and has a mountain pass named after him, the Col Robert Marchand, which is at 911 metres above sea level – the cyclist himself was born in 1911.
An article published by Le Parisien this morning has three videos of Marchand – one in which, as he turned 100 in 2012, he spoke about his love of cycling and another that looks back on his life, while the third looks at his preparations for today’s record breaking ride.




















21 thoughts on “Robert Marchand smashes his own age group world Hour record – at the age of 102”
Wow! 10% further than when
Wow! 10% further than when he was 100 y.o. Impressive.
Good on him. Respect.
Good on him. Respect.
Inspirational! Bravo!
Inspirational! Bravo! =D>
Great, Terrific,
Great, Terrific, Amazing…
Bloody Brilliant!!
Better with age. Well done
Better with age. Well done sir! =D>
I hope I can just got on a
I hope I can just got on a bike when I’m 100. Pedaling will be optional
Someone buy that man a carbon
Someone buy that man a carbon bike!
Does he get tested ??? Just
Does he get tested ??? Just to play the devils advocate.
lostinfrance wrote:Does he
He had a pretty good comeback to the inevitable doping question a couple of years ago:
When asked if he planned to get any artificial help for his ride, Marchand insisted: “The only doping for me is water with a spoonful of honey that I put in my canteen – and that’s it.”
“If I was doping, though, maybe I could hit 35 km/h,” he added.
Should have just beaten his
Should have just beaten his record so he could come back next year and set another one, like pole vaulter Sergey Bubka.
A target for me in 2078 I suppose.
If that dosen”t deserve a
If that dosen”t deserve a rainbow jersey I don’t know what does!
Hats off to you sir
Hats off to you sir B-)
Imagine how far he’s gonna go
Imagine how far he’s gonna go when he’s 105!
Chapeau
Chapeau
A 10% increase in 2 years?
A 10% increase in 2 years? Wow… at this rate, he’ll be going 117 times faster by the time he’s 200 – if my calculations are correct. Impressive guy.
An inspiration to us all.
An inspiration to us all. What an amazing guy!
I would like to think that a
I would like to think that a sponsor would see this as an ideal opportunity to give this top bloke a modern bike, in exchange for a second attempt.
It would be interesting to see just how much of a difference the latest technology would make.
Chapeau +1
Chapeau +1
Ive heard Lampre Merida are
Ive heard Lampre Merida are looking at signing him up…
Top dude, big respect. Wonder
Top dude, big respect. Wonder how many of us will be even able to get on a bike when we’re 102?
OldRidgeback wrote:Top dude,
Wonder how many of us will even reach 102?
Respect. =D>