Robert Marchand, record-setting centenarian cyclist, dies at 109

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Obituaries

Robert Marchand, record-setting centenarian cyclist, dies at 109



French cyclist Robert Marchand in 2017 at age 105. (Francois Mori/AP)

By Samuel Petrequin
May 22, 2021 at 11:44 a.m. EDT

Robert Marchand, a diminutive Frenchman who once was told he would never excel in cycling only to set world records as a centenarian, died May 22 at a care facility in Mitry-Mory, France, outside Paris. He was 109. ... The facility’s director, Hadjiretou Timera, confirmed the death to the Associated Press but did not specify a cause. Mr. Marchand was still riding his exercise bike 20 minutes a day until recently.

Mr. Marchand, who was born Nov. 26, 1911, in the northern French city of Amiens. As a young man, he was told by a coach to give up cycling, because his small size would prevent him from achieving success. He stood 5 feet tall and weighed 115 pounds. ... As a young man, Mr. Marchand traveled extensively, working as a truck driver in Venezuela in the late 1940s, then as a lumberjack in Canada. He had also been a firefighter.

Back in France in the 1960s, Mr. Marchand held various jobs that left him with no time for sports, but he eventually took up his bicycle when he was 68 and accomplished a remarkable series of cycling feats. ... He cycled from Paris to Moscow in 1992 and set the 100-kilometer (62.14-mile) record for cyclists past the age of 100. ... In January 2017, he set a world record in the 105-plus age category — created especially for him — by riding 22.54 kilometers (14 miles) in one hour on the boards of the Vélodrome National near Paris. ... “I’m now waiting for a rival,” he said at the time.

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Mr. Marchand, a longtime supporter of the French Communist Party, lived by himself in a small apartment until recently. Last September, his family placed him in an elderly care facility. ... “Until last week, he was really in a better form,” Timera, the director of Les Acacias residence in Mitry-Mory, told the AP. “In addition to his physiotherapy, he kept pedaling 20 minutes a day on his exercise bike. We were all really impressed; he achieved things we could not.” ... Timera said Mr. Marchand’s family had been informed in recent days that he appeared to have weakened and “was arriving at the end of the race.

{snip}

Information on survivors was not available.

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[JanMichael]

1. Wow. Unreal dedication to heath and physical capability.

Almost the entire 20th Century and 1/5th of the 21st. Wow.

[bullwinkle428]

2. A life well-lived for sure. As a fellow cyclist, Robert Marchand is totally my hero!

[mn9driver]

3. My grandfather was about the same size. 120 pounds soaking wet, getting lighter as he got older.

He came up just short of 100 years despite having a brandy every night and smoking cigars for most of his life. I think he gave those up when he was 90 or so.

I think physical size (combined with good luck) can be an important factor in longevity.

[Woodwizard]

4. I hope I am still riding if I make it that far.

At 57, I try to ride 3 times a week my favorite route is 26 miles, I am lucky to live in the Catskills beautiful area to bike in. It makes a huge difference in how I feel if I miss a few weeks.

[Hoyt]

5. RIP. With electric bikes more of us can make it up those long hills.