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Robert Marchand smashes his own age group world Hour record - at the age of 102

Frenchman who entered first race 88 years ago rides 26.925km to beat previous distance by 10 per cent

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.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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21 comments

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OldRidgeback | 10 years ago
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Top dude, big respect. Wonder how many of us will be even able to get on a bike when we're 102?

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tourdelound replied to OldRidgeback | 10 years ago
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OldRidgeback wrote:

Top dude, big respect. Wonder how many of us will be even able to get on a bike when we're 102?

Wonder how many of us will even reach 102?
Respect.  41

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farrell | 10 years ago
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Ive heard Lampre Merida are looking at signing him up...

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allez neg | 10 years ago
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Chapeau +1

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Neil753 | 10 years ago
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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.

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Kadenz | 10 years ago
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An inspiration to us all. What an amazing guy!

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Quince | 10 years ago
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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.

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fret | 10 years ago
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Chapeau

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griggers | 10 years ago
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Imagine how far he's gonna go when he's 105!

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billyman | 10 years ago
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Hats off to you sir  16

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Juan Unoze | 10 years ago
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If that dosen"t deserve a rainbow jersey I don't know what does!

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Leviathan | 10 years ago
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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.

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lostinfrance | 10 years ago
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Does he get tested ??? Just to play the devils advocate.

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Simon_MacMichael replied to lostinfrance | 10 years ago
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lostinfrance wrote:

Does he get tested ??? Just to play the devils advocate.

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.

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Colin Peyresourde | 10 years ago
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Someone buy that man a carbon bike!

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jarredscycling | 10 years ago
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I hope I can just got on a bike when I'm 100. Pedaling will be optional

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mingmong | 10 years ago
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Better with age. Well done sir!  41

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Grizzerly | 10 years ago
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Great, Terrific, Amazing...
Bloody Brilliant!!

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GoingRoundInCycles | 10 years ago
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Inspirational! Bravo!  41

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numbercruncher | 10 years ago
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Good on him. Respect.

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Celeste08 | 10 years ago
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Wow! 10% further than when he was 100 y.o. Impressive.

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