Saint-Quentin-En-Yuelines (France), Jan 5: Nearly a century ago, Robert Marchand was told by a coach that he should give up cycling because he would never achieve anything on a bike.
He proved that prediction wrong again today.
In a skin-tight yellow and violet jersey, the 105-year-old Frenchman set a world record in the 105-plus age category � created especially for the tireless veteran � by riding 22.547 kilometres in one hour.
�I�m now waiting for a rival,� he said. Marchand had ridden faster in the past on the boards of the Velodrome National, a state of the art venue used to host the elite of track cycling. But he had warned before his latest attempt that his current form was not as good.
�I did not see the sign warning me I had 10 minutes left,� Marchand said after his effort. �Otherwise I would have gone faster, I would have posted a better time. I�m not tired. I thought my legs would hurt, but they don�t. My arms hurt, you have to hurt somewhere.�
Three years ago at the same venue, Marchand covered 26.927 kilometres in one hour to better his own world record in the over-100s category.
Still, impressed fans and chanted �Robert, Robert� during the last minutes of his ride. Marchand received a standing ovation once he completed the last of his 92 laps and was then mobbed by dozens of cameramen and TV crews.
�He could have been faster but he made a big mistake. He has stopped eating meat over the past month after being shocked by recent reports on how animals are subjected to cruel treatment,� Marchand�s physiologist, Veronique Billat, told The Associated Press. � AP