Robert Marchand, January 5, 2017 on the eve of an attempt to set an hour record in his age category. – AFP
He announced his retirement from sports in January 2018, at the already incredible age of 106. Before going up on a bicycle for an hour in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines in October of the same year… Born November 26, 1911, Robert Marchand passed away during the night from Friday to Saturday. The oldest cyclist on Earth died in his sleep, in an Ehpad in Mitry-Mory in Seine-et-Marne,
indicated The Parisian.
“It is with great sadness that we learn of the disappearance of our friend, comrade and champion Robert Marchand at the age of 109,” wrote the communist mayor of the city Charlotte Blandiot-Faride on Facebook. Rest in peace my friend and thank you for all the dreams you have made live! “
His last great sporting feat, the centenary will have accomplished it in January 2017. At the age of 105, he had established the world speed record by bicycle in his category after having covered 22.547 kilometers in one hour. The latest in a long list of incredible performances which, year after year, had increased the media coverage around the former Paris firefighter, with a charisma inversely proportional to his modest height (1.58 m), even if he presented himself like “a simple and normal guy”.