Wo ist Didi?

yourpaceormine

Apologies to all Germans, and in particular the late willi Herman my German teacher if I spelt that wrong.

Not seen Didi the devil yet this tour, anyone else spotted him?

LangerDan

From CyclingNews:

No Tour Devil this year?

Tour Devil Didi Senft is a standard part of the Tour scenery, but may not make it to the race this year. The 60-year-old German is only recently out of hospital, where he had to have fluid drained from his skull. The doctors have told him to stay home and stay quiet – a difficult task for Senft, who is well-known for his grimaces and leaps as he urges the peloton on during the mountain stages.

But don't worry, the Tour Devil has every intention of being back in 2013 and is full of plans to build even bigger and better bike models while recuperating!

takethehighroad

He's being sponsored by WIggle, so presumably being kept off the screens if possible

richa

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/sc/whoisdidi

blazing_saddles

I watched the Tour of Austria, today. He was on the mighty Kitzbühel Horn, watching Danilo di Luted
beat a bunch of RSNT and BMC domestiques....................oh and Mr Birdsong. :oops:
His running up those steep pitches was very laboured. Reading above, I see why.

knedlicky

I didn’t know he’d been ill, but Didi Senft seems to get everywhere in his costume, not just the TdF.
He’s been at some Tours of Switzerland, he’s often at junior amateur races in his local area of Germany, and he’s also been at a European Golf Championship, a Chess World Championship, and the Ice Hockey World Championships.
Last month I think he was supposed to be going to the recent (football) European Championships with this new bike, made using 100 footballs.

RichN95.

knedlicky wrote:

a Chess World Championship

I'd love to see him jumping up and down next to the board as some Indian wonderkid moves Knight to King's Bishop 3.

cougie

He's been ill ?

I blame Wiggle.

Pross

I can't believe he is only 60, he looked that age when I first saw him back in the early / mid 90s!

Saw him on the Giro coverage this year - he must have a great job if he can just go to all these sports events.

knedlicky

Pross wrote:

I can't believe he is only 60, he looked that age when I first saw him back in the early / mid 90s!

Senft appeared for the first time in 1993, chasing after Chiappuci riding up a pass in the Pyrenees.
He decided on a devil’s costume because the ‘flamme rouge’ (as the name suggests originally a red flag, if nowadays more often an inflatable red porch over the road, indicating the last km of a stage) was often called the ‘Teufelslappen’ by German radio reporters (i.e. devil’s cloth or devil’s rag) – although Senft didn’t keep strictly to appearing at the one km mark.
(Kraftwerk in their song ‘Tour de France’ mention the ‘Teufelslappen’)

Pross wrote:

Saw him on the Giro coverage this year - he must have a great job if he can just go to all these sports events.

Senft was originally a sheet metal worker in East Germany but often unemployed so started building his odd or oversize bicycles, his first ever being a bike for 3 men with integrated beer crate holder. He then earned money by exhibiting his bikes at summer holiday camps (a bit like East German Butlins camps), pop group concerts, and shows of stand-up comedians. He probably hasn’t had a regular job since he was in his mid-20s.

He gets his money nowadays mainly from a sponsor (seems he only ever has one sponsor at a time, with whom he makes a contract usually for a few years) but also from TV or event appearances, and entrance fees into his museum (opened about 8 years ago). I think he also has part ownership in a restaurant and beer garden adjacent the museum.

Rognavold

Apparently DIDI has been recovering from an operation, and told to rest, and is not at the Tour, although it has been reported that he has been seen at the Tour of Austria.