Robert Marchand dashing young man of 105 years set a new cycling speed record on the national velodrome in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines. It is simply extraordinary. The Ardéchois set a new hour record in its class: 22,547 km travelled!
It was three years ago, that Robert Marchand, who was then 102 years old, broke the world record of the bike speed in the category over 100 years old. The centenary had traveled 26,927 kilometers in one hour.
Wednesday at 4pm, on the same velodrome in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Robert lunged. But, he warns, it will do no better, he will cycle to set the record in the new category of more than 105 years. promise! The Ardéchois ran 22,547 km riding his bike, an outstanding performance.
“I could go faster”
“It is well” , has he declared after 92 laps, surrounded by a swarm of reporters, telling himself surprised to be already happened. “I thought I still had kilometers to go, I could go faster” , launched the centenary, barely out of breath, which had significantly gained speed in the closing laps.
“Now I expect my opponent” , who manage to beat his record in the new category record time of over 105 years, he joked. Its performance, to be approved by the International Cycling Union (UCI), has yet to turn the corner drug tests, which – if the rider is faithful to his lifestyle – should be a formality.
A Martian
Those who cross the velodrome, not alarm, the days preceding his record, does not agree: “This is a Martian” smiled Jean Ridel, youngster of 84, who will attempt in a year to tackle in more than 85 years record. “Must keep the balance on the bike, to anticipate the bends”, is “phenomenal” for 105 years, he said.
On the day, the centenary bind themselves laps on a slight elevation, with a custom bike and bristling with sensors beneath its yellow and purple shirt – the colors of the Ardèche, popular race that organizes the event with the French Federation Cycling. Robert Marchand expects to travel 23 or 24 kilometers an hour. “If I was 30, it looks like I was doped! “
The Secret ?
The secret then? It gives some tips: “All my life I have made sport” , “plenty of fruit and vegetables” , “not too much coffee”, “no smoking”, “very little alcohol” .
The physiologist and university professor Billat Veronica, which follows the last 100 years, adds: “His body surface area is small but has a heart pulse as much blood per minute than someone greater. His body is super irrigated ‘ .
A lifetime backpacking
His personality also plays: “He has a strong determination, he has no doubt he is not afraid to try things” .
Gérard Mistler, president of the Ardèche, Robert Marchand is a “great example for humanity” . “It was a shame that it remains incognito in his apartment in Mitry-Mory as he gives a lot of joy of living people”.
The town of Seine-et-Marne, close to the slopes of Roissy, is the base of Robert Marchand, after a lifetime began November 26, 1911 in Amiens, and marked by two world wars, the Cold War and years backpacking in Venezuela and Canada. Visitors to his modest studio, former firefighter Paris (among others) that “begins to take the bottle,” does not hesitate to show flexibility exercises to which it bends every morning. Or a demonstration of its drive unit, the same as the riders of the Tour de France. “Go slower! “ Launches a cycling buddy, raising his voice to be heard.
It has gained velocity
This faulty hearing is one of the few ailments whose centenary is suffering with a little tension (its “single stamp” daily) and rheumatism in the hands that hinder to hold the handlebars. “But the legs it’s fine” , he said, always pedaling. Tests showed he had won in velocity, but lost power. “Too bad I just velocity” . Without losing his laugh, he tells felt recently a form of “lapse” . He does not fear death, he says, only paralysis. Meanwhile, it rolls.
