Robert Marchand, the French centenarian cyclist and the hour record holder for the 100+ and 105+ age groups, died on May 22, 2021, at the age of 109, at a care facility in Mitry-Mory, France.
Tag: Robert Marchand
This afternoon (on January 4, 2017) 105-year-old French cyclist Robert Marchand set the hour record for the category created especially for him by the UCI (105+). At the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome near Paris, managed to complete 22.547 kilometers in an hour! He fell just short of his 2014 record of 26.927 kilometers but what a phenomenal achievement!
A huge crowd cheered Marchand during his record-setting on trackside. He carried number 105 on his back.
Robert Marchand celebrated his 103rd birthday by climbing the col named after him: “Col Robert Marchand“, in the Ardeche mountains, near Saint-Felicien. Altitude: 911-meter (2988 feet).
Despite the rain and cold weather, Marchand conquered the 10 km climb and reached the summit in less than an hour, and celebrated at the top with a glass of Champagne. He pointed out that it was only 11°C and that he didn’t normally ride unless it was at least 15°C (59°F).
102-year-old Robert Marchand beats his own Hour Record for the category created especially for him by the UCI (100+) this afternoon. He rode 26.927 km – 10% further than the distance he set in 2012 at the age of 100!
102-year-old Robert Marchand still holds the Hour Record (see notes 1) for the 100+ age group. Tomorrow, the evergreen Frenchman will attack his own record.
On February 17, 2012, Marchand rode 24.25 kilometers (15.1 miles), setting a one-hour speed record in the new over-100s category created by the UCI. Tomorrow, almost two years later, he’s aiming to exceed 25 km on the new velodrome in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, just outside Paris.
Robert Marchand continues to inspire us. The evergreen Frenchman has set a new goal: breaking his own hour record in the over-100s category in January 2014, at 102 years of age.
In February 2012, Marchand rode 24.25 kilometers (15.1 miles), setting a one-hour speed record in the new over-100s category created by the UCI. Then, on September 28, 2012, the ever-green Frenchman set the 100-kilometer cycling record for the 100+-year-old category, with four hours 17 minutes and 27 seconds, at the Parc de la Tête d’Or Velodrome in Lyon.
Giuseppe Marinoni, the famous Italian framebuilder, broke the hour record for the 74-79 age group on October 20. He broke the record in Brescia, Italy. Marinoni covered 35.728 km in one hour.
Robert Marchand, who set the over-100-year-old Hour Record last February, also sets 100-km Cycling Record – a record for the fastest 100-year-old to cycle 100 kilometers (62 miles).
The ever-green Frenchman consequently completed the distance in Lyon velodrome with a superb effort for someone his age: in four hours 17 minutes 27 seconds. Marchand had aimed to average 22.5 kilometers per hour for the distance of 100km, but instead, he exceeded 23 km/h (14.3 mp/h).