Long cycle ride

A 100 year old Frenchman recently set a new world cycling record, pedalling his bicycle 100km in four hours, 17 minutes and achieving an average speed of 23.3km/h at Lyon velodrome. Competing in his first cycle race 86 years ago when he had to lie about his age to enter, he only retired when he reached the age of 89 and worked at an array of jobs including sports instructor and fire fighter, while he also boxed and weighlifted competitively in the past. A keen cyclist, he commented that after he reached the
December 13, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
A 100 year old Frenchman recently set a new world cycling record, pedalling his bicycle 100km in four hours, 17 minutes and achieving an average speed of 23.3km/h at Lyon velodrome. Competing in his first cycle race 86 years ago when he had to lie about his age to enter, he only retired when he reached the age of 89 and worked at an array of jobs including sports instructor and fire fighter, while he also boxed and weighlifted competitively in the past. A keen cyclist, he commented that after he reached the age of 95, he limited his cycle rides to distances of just 100km. The man has faced a barrage of medical tests as doctors try to find out the key to his longevity and is said to have the physique of a healthy 50 year old. He has attributed his health and fitness to moderation in all things, including wine, women and song; however it is not clear whether these will be made available to all for free on the French national health system.

Related Content

  • Record (law)breaker
    February 22, 2012
    A Swiss man has managed to achieve a national record by committing 15 major traffic violations in a space of 10 minutes. Police were alerted when the man raced past an unmarked patrol vehicle at a highly illegal 160km/h, oblivious to the fact that it was raining heavily at the time.
    Read More
  • Tunnels and bridges, improving Argentina's major road link
    April 24, 2012
    A road improvement plus tunnel and bridge building contract in an area once inhabited by dinosaurs in northern Argentina, is a small but key part of an ambitious project to complete a road that will eventually link the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of Latin America - Adriana Potts reports. Remote, rough and spectacular are words that come to mind when describing the mountains of Ischigualasto in Argentina's northern province of San Juan This is the only place in the world where an undisturbed sequence of rock
    Read More
  • PPRS Nice 2018: maintenance moves mountains
    June 22, 2018
    Strategic maintenance was a major theme at the second Pavement Preservation and Recycling Summit in Nice, France. The world is changing, mobility is changing and so roads must change and adapt for the future.” With this brief statement, Jacques Tavernier opened the second PPRS Summit. “At the same time there is a growing awareness of poor or non-existent maintenance for highways. The question for this conference is how to adapt road maintenance in the face of this challenge,” said Tavernier, in his role as
    Read More
  • High demand for German-made construction machinery
    February 14, 2018
    The German construction equipment industry is in the middle of a boom, according to data from the country’s equipment manufacturing body, the VDMA. A new report highlights that turnover and incoming orders saw a double-digit increase in 2017 and Germany manufacturers are starting 2018 with a high degree of optimism. According to the VDMA figures, the German construction equipment industry ended 2017 with turnover of €10.8 billion– an increase of 15% compared to the previous year. It is the fourth
    Read More

Highlighted Content