25. TRAINING RESPONSIVENESS CAN BE MAINTAINED BEYOND 100 (!) YEARS OLD

Photo by Martino Pietropoli on Unsplash

In the last few years, there are more and more cyclists continuing to train and compete at 60, 70,80, 90 …. 100 (!) years old. On average, a -1% decrease per year in VO2max after reaching 25-30 years old has been reported. However, these are only average big data that don’t consider any influencing factor, such as health and training history.

You have probably (?) already read that in 2012 a 100-age group category hour world cycling record was set. The recordman was Robert Marchand, 101 years old from France, who covered 24.250 kms in 1 hour. More interestingly, after 2 years, he beat his own record completing 26.927 km in 1 hour. The two records were performed on two different tracks and using two different bikes. This could have contributed to the improvement observed without any change in Marchand’s physiology.

However, a french research group lead by Veronique Billat (Université d'Evry Val d'Essonne, Evry, France) tested and published (1) Marchand’s physiological values recorded in the lab two weeks before both the two records. These data are very interesting and leave us a very positive message.

Is responsiveness to aerobic training maintained even over 100 years old?