Marchand retires at 106

French cyclist Robert Marchand is retiring at the age of 106, a friend of the bike-mad centenarian has announced.

Robert Marchand. Source: Getty

The decision to quit comes a year after the tenacious sportsman set what was widely billed as a world record for the over-105s category: he completed 22.528 km (14.08 miles) in one hour.

The feat, at an indoor track near Paris, drew intense media coverage and a moment of international celebrity for Marchand, an amateur who has been in the saddle for well over 90 years.

"His doctors don't want him to make these huge efforts anymore," his neighbour Christian Bouchard said, confirming to AFP.

Marchand will continue to pile on the kilometres on the stationary bike at his apartment northeast of Paris.

Marchand was born on November 26, 191 in the northern French city of Amiens and has reportedly worked in a variety of fields, including Fireman, sugarcane planter, wine merchant and vegetable farmer.