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

Jean-Michel Richefort, coach of Cycling Club, weighs the bike (8.55kgs) that French cyclist Robert Marchand (not pictured) will use in an attempt 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

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 when he was 103 years old.

(Reporting by Noemie Olive; Writing By Richard Balmforth; Editing by Gareth Jones)