Robert Marchand pictured in January, aged 105, riding in a bid to beat his record for distance cycled in one hour, at the velodrome of Saint-Quentin en Yvelines, outside Paris. Photo/ AP
Robert Marchand pictured in January, aged 105, riding in a bid to beat his record for distance cycled in one hour, at the velodrome of Saint-Quentin en Yvelines, outside Paris. Photo/ AP
The world's oldest competitive cyclist, Robert Marchand, has decided to retire - at the age of 106.
Since he turned 100, the Frenchman has been setting new records for his age group on the velodrome. In February 2012 he set the mark for the one-hour record at 24.250km and improvedon that two years later with 26.927km - a time that fit 20-year-old non-cyclists would struggle to better.
Between those two efforts, he rode 300 laps of the Parc de la Tete d'Or Velodrome in Paris in four hours, 17 minutes and 27 seconds - equivalent to 100km.
To maintain his fitness, Marchand stretches and does resistance exercises each day plus rides his indoor traine. He credits his longevity to a diet that contains a lot of fruit and vegetables, a small amount of meat, "not too much coffee", "no cigarettes" and "very little alcohol" - and sport.
Born in 1911, Marchand began cycling at 14 years of age. He later lived lived in Canada and Venezuela and worked as a fireman, market gardener, show salesman and wine dealer, and competed as an amateur boxer.
