Dieter "Didi" Senft (born 7 February 1952) is a German cycling fan who is known as Didi the Devil or El Diablo at the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

and Giro d'Italia. Since 1993, he has been seen in the Tour and Giro's many stages wearing his red devil costume and painting

trident A trident is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. The trident is the weapon of Poseidon, or Neptune, the God of the Sea in classical mythology. The trident may occasionally be held by other marine ...

symbols on the road some miles before he appears. Senft said the inspiration for his costume came from secretly watching the Tour de France on West German TV and hearing a broadcaster refer to the red triangular flag that marks the last kilometer as "the devil's red flag.""InCycle Video: Meet super fan Didi the Devil"
''Cycling News'', July 24, 2014. Retrieved 2019-07-22.

Biography

Senft is an inventor who has created numerous unusual bicycles including the largest rideable bicycle in the world. He has more than 17 world records from bike-related inventions. According to the

Guinness Book of Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

, Senft built the largest mobile guitar, taking the form of a bicycle. During multi-day stage races he often travels ahead of the race itself in a custom-decorated camper vehicle, picking various locations for the race to pass by. He is also a regular attendee at important single day races, such as the

spring classic The Livamol Classic is a Weight-for-age Thoroughbred horse race run at Hastings Racecourse in Hawke's Bay and was at one stage New Zealand's richest horse race. It is run at a distance of 2040m. The race is run in October. The weather in the Haw ...

s and

world championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

. In 1996, Senft travelled to Atlanta, Georgia, USA, to cheer on the athletes during the 1996 Summer Olympic Games cycling road race on the streets of suburban Buckhead. During the 2006

Tour of Switzerland The Tour de Suisse ( en, Tour of Switzerland) is an annual road cycling stage race. Raced over eight days, the event covers two weekends in June, and along with the Critérium du Dauphiné, it is considered a proving ground for the Tour de Franc ...

, Didi Senft painted his signature trident on the road before the competitors were set to go by. However, the local Swiss police told him it was illegal and asked him to remove the marks in order to avoid facing a fine. He was again in the spotlight at

Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...

when he rode through

Klagenfurt Klagenfurt am WörtherseeLandesgesetzblatt 2008 vom 16. Jänner 2008, Stück 1, Nr. 1: ''Gesetz vom 25. Oktober 2007, mit dem die Kärntner Landesverfassung und das Klagenfurter Stadtrecht 1998 geändert werden.'/ref> (; ; sl, Celovec), usually ...

in his specially created "Football Bike" prior to the Germany vs Croatia Match. He was seen at the 2011 and 2012 Giro d'Italia and the 2011

Cologne Marathon The Cologne Marathon (Köln-Marathon) is an annual marathon held in Cologne, Germany. Since October 1997 the marathon has been held annually in early October, except for 2004, 2005 and 2014 when it was held in late September. History The inau ...

in a pink devil costume. In 2012, Senft confirmed he would miss the Tour de France for the first time since 1993 after undergoing surgery. "I just got back from having my head x-rayed, the third time in three weeks, I feel like a Chernobyl reactor," he told

Cyclingnews.com Cyclingnews.com is a website providing cycling news and race result owned by Future. History In 1995 Australian Bill Mitchell, a keen cyclist and professor of economics at the University of Newcastle, created the website titled "Bill’s Cycli ...

. "Today the results were much better and I can start doing more things every day." Following his enforced absence from events, Senft was present at the 2012 World Championships, and has been at the Tour de France in each edition since, as of 2022.

References

External links

*
Didi Senft in full action during the Tour in 2010

The DEVIL: PEZ-Clusive Interview!

The Tour-devil's Homepage

* ttp://www.bikerumor.com/2009/03/25/tour-de-france-devil-builds-crazy-bikes/ Video of the Tour Devil's crazy bikes
Didi Senft is one of the characters of the cycling film "The Last Kilometer"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Senft, Didi 1952 births Living people People from Oder-Spree 20th-century German inventors Sports spectators Tour de France people