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105-year-old Frenchman cycles into history with hour-long ride

  • French cyclist Robert Marchand (L) prepares to start as he attempts to break his own world cycling record at the age of 105, taking part in a one-hour cycling event in the Masters + 100 category held at the Velodrome National in Montigny-les-Bretonneux, southwest of Paris, France, January 4, 2017. REUTERS/Jacky Naegelen
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    French cyclist Robert Marchand attempts to break his own world cycling record at the age of 105, taking part in a one-hour cycling event in the Masters + 100 category held at the Velodrome National in Montigny-les-Bretonneux

    French cyclist Robert Marchand (L) prepares to start as he attempts to break his own world cycling record at the age of 105, taking part in a one-hour cycling event in the Masters + 100 category held at the Velodrome National in Montigny-les-Bretonneux, southwest of Paris, France, January 4, 2017. REUTERS/Jacky Naegelen
    Reuters
  • French cyclist Robert Marchand reacts as he arrives before attempting to break his own world cycling record at the age of 105, taking part in a one-hour cycling event in the Masters + 100 category held at the Velodrome National in Montigny-les-Bretonneux, southwest of Paris, France, January 4, 2017. REUTERS/Jacky Naegelen
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    French cyclist Robert Marchand arrives before attempting to break his own world cycling record at the age of 105, taking part in a one-hour cycling event in the Masters + 100 category held at the Velodrome National in Montigny-les-Bretonneux

    French cyclist Robert Marchand reacts as he arrives before attempting to break his own world cycling record at the age of 105, taking part in a one-hour cycling event in the Masters + 100 category held at the Velodrome National in Montigny-les-Bretonneux, southwest of Paris, France, January 4, 2017. REUTERS/Jacky Naegelen
    Reuters
  • French cyclist Robert Marchand (L) prepares to start as he attempts to break his own world cycling record at the age of 105, taking part in a one-hour cycling event in the Masters + 100 category held at the Velodrome National in Montigny-les-Bretonneux, southwest of Paris, France, January 4, 2017. REUTERS/Jacky Naegelen
    3/5

    French cyclist Robert Marchand attempts to break his own world cycling record at the age of 105, taking part in a one-hour cycling event in the Masters + 100 category held at the Velodrome National in Montigny-les-Bretonneux

    French cyclist Robert Marchand (L) prepares to start as he attempts to break his own world cycling record at the age of 105, taking part in a one-hour cycling event in the Masters + 100 category held at the Velodrome National in Montigny-les-Bretonneux, southwest of Paris, France, January 4, 2017. REUTERS/Jacky Naegelen
    Reuters
  • French cyclist Robert Marchand rides his bike as he attempts to break his own world cycling record at the age of 105, taking part in a one-hour cycling event in the Masters + 100 category held at the Velodrome National in Montigny-les-Bretonneux, southwest of Paris, France, January 4, 2017. REUTERS/Jacky Naegelen
    4/5

    French cyclist Robert Marchand rides his bike as he attempts to break his own world cycling record at the age of 105, taking part in a one-hour cycling event in the Masters + 100 category held at the Velodrome National in Montigny-les-Bretonneux

    French cyclist Robert Marchand rides his bike as he attempts to break his own world cycling record at the age of 105, taking part in a one-hour cycling event in the Masters + 100 category held at the Velodrome National in Montigny-les-Bretonneux, southwest of Paris, France, January 4, 2017. REUTERS/Jacky Naegelen
    Reuters
  • French cyclist Robert Marchand (C) prepares to start as he attempts to break his own world cycling record at the age of 105, taking part in a one-hour cycling event in the Masters + 100 category held at the Velodrome National in Montigny-les-Bretonneux, southwest of Paris, France, January 4, 2017. REUTERS/Jacky Naegelen
    5/5

    French cyclist Robert Marchand attempts to break his own world cycling record at the age of 105, taking part in a one-hour cycling event in the Masters + 100 category held at the Velodrome National in Montigny-les-Bretonneux

    French cyclist Robert Marchand (C) prepares to start as he attempts to break his own world cycling record at the age of 105, taking part in a one-hour cycling event in the Masters + 100 category held at the Velodrome National in Montigny-les-Bretonneux, southwest of Paris, France, January 4, 2017. REUTERS/Jacky Naegelen
    Reuters
French cyclist Robert Marchand (L) prepares to start as he attempts to break his own world cycling record at the age of 105, taking part in a one-hour cycling event in the Masters + 100 category held at the Velodrome National in Montigny-les-Bretonneux, southwest of Paris, France, January 4, 2017. REUTERS/Jacky Naegelen
French cyclist Robert Marchand reacts as he arrives before attempting to break his own world cycling record at the age of 105, taking part in a one-hour cycling event in the Masters + 100 category held at the Velodrome National in Montigny-les-Bretonneux, southwest of Paris, France, January 4, 2017. REUTERS/Jacky Naegelen
French cyclist Robert Marchand (L) prepares to start as he attempts to break his own world cycling record at the age of 105, taking part in a one-hour cycling event in the Masters + 100 category held at the Velodrome National in Montigny-les-Bretonneux, southwest of Paris, France, January 4, 2017. REUTERS/Jacky Naegelen
French cyclist Robert Marchand rides his bike as he attempts to break his own world cycling record at the age of 105, taking part in a one-hour cycling event in the Masters + 100 category held at the Velodrome National in Montigny-les-Bretonneux, southwest of Paris, France, January 4, 2017. REUTERS/Jacky Naegelen
French cyclist Robert Marchand (C) prepares to start as he attempts to break his own world cycling record at the age of 105, taking part in a one-hour cycling event in the Masters + 100 category held at the Velodrome National in Montigny-les-Bretonneux, southwest of Paris, France, January 4, 2017. REUTERS/Jacky Naegelen
Reuters

SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France (Reuters) - Robert Marchand, a 105-year-old Frenchman, made cycling history on Wednesday by covering 22.528 km (14.08 miles) in one hour on a track near Paris. Marchand has a huge following in France and was cheered on by hundreds of fans as he rode round the velodrome at Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines. However, he fell short of his own previous record of 26.927 km in the over-100s category, which he set in 2014 at the age of 102 years old. (Corrects age to 102 when Marchand set record in 2014) (Reporting by Noemie Olive; Writing By Richard Balmforth; Editing by Gareth Jones)