Already 30 years in the Tour de France: Visiting cycling devil Didi Senft (71)

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Without a suit he is a simple pensioner. But with? Then Dieter Senft becomes the devil. To the tour devil. The 71-year-old Berliner is the most famous figure in the world’s largest cycling race. Neither Christian Prudhomme (tour director) nor the top favorites for the win (Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard) can keep up. “Actually, I’m a shy person. Even as a child, the school assessment said, ‘Is more of a loner, not very comfortable in a community.’ But when I’m dressing up, a switch goes off in me and there’s no stopping it, then I’m completely wrong, just funny and chaotic,” he says.

We visit Dieter Senft at his home in Storkow, a good hour’s drive from Berlin. “Hello everyone”, our wife Margitta greets us. She takes care of the garden of the beautiful single-family house and plants seedlings in the ground. “Didi is coming,” she announces. In September, the two celebrate their golden wedding anniversary, they have been a couple for 50 years. She doesn’t mind that she isn’t her husband’s only great love. “Didi loves cycling more than anything else. That makes me happy too.” She knows: an exorcism would be pointless.

Showering in the pigsty

And then suddenly there he is, jumping out the front door in a devil costume. Didi Senft, the devil of the tour – also known as “El Diablo” and “Didi the Devil”. his mood? fine. As always, one is inclined to say. “I’m a very positive person. If someone makes fun of me, I wish them a good day. It’s that simple.”

Senft shows us his VW bus, which he drives to the races. It’s his third – he drove a total of 1.5 million kilometers with them and traveled the equivalent of 37 times around the world. Margitta came along occasionally, but he has been traveling alone for years. A bed, blankets, clothes, food and drink. “I don’t need much, I have canned food, crispbread and chocolate with me. And when there’s nothing left, I just don’t eat anything,” he says.

Even rain, heat and cold can’t harm the qualified locksmith, artist, inventor and bicycle designer. «I’ve already been to the Nufenen, it was freezing cold. When I slept I took three blankets, put on a hat and put a towel over my face.” He often showers when traveling through streams, sometimes with farmers, “once even with a water hose in the pigsty”.

“A blood clot in my brain knocked me out”

Senft loves his spartan life on the road. “I’m happiest when I have nothing,” he says. At a young age he himself was an amateur driver in the GDR, he even became district champion. But the talent was not enough for more. “As a child I heard the Friedensfahrt on the radio and was impressed,” he says. It was the origin of his enthusiasm for cycling.

“I had the idea for the devil costume when I was twelve. We secretly watched Western television, the Tour de France was on and the reporters covered the last kilometer, the Flamme Rouge, the devil’s rag. So I said I would dress up as the devil one day.” After the fall of the Berlin Wall, Senft fulfilled his dream: he has been whipping up the riders of the Tour de France since 1993 – now he is celebrating his 30th anniversary. ” I only missed 2012. A blood clot in my brain knocked me out. But I’m fine now.”

17 world records – some in Valais

With the famous devil’s trident in hand, Senft leaps into the air for photos. The jump is his most famous pose, along with the gaping scream. “It’s not as high as it used to be,” he says.

Then Senft leads us to the bank of the canal that flows past his house into the Grote Storkower See. Everywhere you see smaller and larger art objects, all related to bicycles – he made a fish sculpture from hundreds of bells. What you should know about this: In 2004, Senft opened the “Museum for Bicycle Curiosities” nearby and exhibited more than 200 bicycles that he made himself. “I set 17 world records in the Guinness Book with my bikes,” he says proudly. At some point, however, the museum was no longer profitable, Senft had to close it five years ago – but many pieces will be on display in the future at the Musée du Vélo in Chippis USA.

Tour organizer pays him

Back to Storkow. Sense has changed. Jeans, blue track jacket, blue cap with Tom and Luis written on it – these are the names of his grandchildren. «Without a suit I am much calmer, even shy. It’s like a switch has flipped in my head.” Senft sits down in his beach chair and looks out over the water. Suddenly he seems thoughtful, but not sad. “Times have gotten harder. My pension is only 650 euros a month. I used to go to every major race, including the Tour de Suisse more than 20 times. I can’t do that anymore.”

In fact, Senft still tours the world, but is sponsored by tour organizer ASO – all costs are covered, plus a small salary. In return, he allows himself to be photographed and sometimes appears at VIP and sponsorship events. The tour devil is almost the official tour mascot.

“I’m sure we’ll be around for another 20 years”

After coffee and cake, we say goodbye. But one question remains: for how long? “As long as my legs carry me and I somehow scrape together the money. I’m sure I’ll be there for the next 20 years.” Somehow it keeps going. And if not more? “The best death would be if my heart stopped beating during a race on the Col du Galibier. “

Source : Blick