From Blonde to Fallen Angel

For Didi Thurau, 1977 is the peak of his career. He has the world title within reach that same year, but on the course of San Cristóbal in Venezuela, he sells the title for a bag of money to the Italian Francesco Moser. A foolish, short-sighted maneuver by the money-hungry German. What happened? The bosses of his future sponsor IJsboerke thought that a rainbow jersey, while beautiful, leaves too little space for advertising texts from the sponsor. That’s why he is signaled by the sponsor along the way. He is allowed to sell the title to Moser. At least, that’s the story that immediately circulates after the World Championships. But it is more than just a rumor. Francesco Moser already has the reputation of being the ultimate wheeler-dealer. In 1976, at the track tournament that preceded the road title tournaments in those years, Moser paid a substantial amount to Roy Schuiten in the final of the pursuit World Championships in Ostuni to be able to wear the rainbow jersey. Schuiten later confirmed this.

Hennie makes a strong impression in tropical San Cristóbal. Although he does not reach the podium, finishing fourth behind the duo Moser-Thurau and Italian Franco Bitossi, Kuiper once again shows that he belongs to the absolute top in tough one-day races. In the jersey of IJsboerke, his sponsor after the Raleigh years, Didi Thurau - who is called the ‘Blonde Angel’ in the German press - initially performs reasonably well, although he never reaches the high level from his time riding for Peter Post’s Raleigh team. Thurau still wins the Championship of Zurich (1978), Liège-Bastogne-Liège (1979), the Tour of Germany (1979), stages in the Tour of Italy (1978) and in the Tour de France (1979), and secures second place behind Jan Raas at the World Championships in Valkenburg (1979). But afterwards, his harvest becomes leaner with each passing year. For a rider of his caliber, he builds up a disappointingly limited palmares.

Doping Affairs

From 1980 onwards, he stands out mainly due to doping affairs. Insiders are not surprised by this. He has only been with Raleigh for barely a year when he shows Jules De Wever, the assistant team manager of Peter Post, a small briefcase. ‘Mein Geheimnis,’ says the young talent. De Wever recoils in shock when he sees the contents. ‘Neatly arranged in a row, a series of ampoules. Alongside, a number of injection needles.’

De Wever during an interview in 2004: ‘That Thurau was completely on the wrong path. I tried to help him get rid of that junk. But whether I succeeded…’

During his time at Raleigh, Thurau is never caught. But from 1980 onwards, he tests positive four times. In 1987, Thurau and Kuiper’s paths cross again at the Roland-Skala team. Didi and Hennie are - ten years after their successful Tour de France in 1977 - clearly past their peak. Their sons have almost the same name. Didi’s Björn follows in his father’s footsteps as a cyclist, unlike Hennie’s Bjorn, but will not achieve great success. Any further comparison between Thurau and Kuiper is completely off, especially in private matters. Thurau is successful on the winter tracks, where glamour and show are more important than sporting achievements. It suits Thurau more than the hard work on the road. The showbiz world, where he can show off his Porsches and Ferraris, where he appears in fur coats and nervously tailored bespoke suits, is where he feels comfortable. Track managements, especially those in Germany, fight for his signature under the lucrative contracts they present to him. Occasionally things get out of hand, like at the Six Days of Dortmund in 1982 where he gets into a fight with the organizer and is kicked out of the race, but generally ‘der Didi’ is a welcome guest on the tracks. He earns amounts up to 50,000 marks for six days of circling around the wooden ovals.

The two aces of Peter Post in the formation of De Firma, TI-Raleigh: Didi Thurau and Hennie Kuiper. Peter Post especially has an eye for Thurau

Hennie Kuiper gets into the team car of Peter Post at the end of a stage in the 1977 Tour.

Before the start of Rund um den Henninger Turm, the crowd gathers in Frankfurt to catch a glimpse of the German Raleigh hero Didi Thurau.

Fortuin

Twenty-nine times he is hailed as the winner of such an event of show and sport. That it is not conducive to preparing for the road season does not bother him. In the winter season of 1981-1982, he signs no less than six Six-Day contracts. It earns him a fortune, but it puts a strain on his preparation for the road. The prolonged stay in stuffy, beer-soaked, and smoky sports palaces harms his condition. And that becomes evident as soon as he ventures onto the road. He is unmanageable, changes teams as easily as shirts. He has numerous conflicts. In 1985, he gets into a fight with an official in the Tour de France. He is expelled from the race. His list of achievements barely grows anymore. The fifth place in the Giro d’Italia in 1983 and a stage victory in the Tour of Switzerland in 1987 - in the time trial between Basel and Birsfelden - are the scarce highlights in races of any significance. At his last success, the time trial in the Tour of Switzerland, he rides in the jersey of the Belgian Skala team, of which Hennie Kuiper is also a part. These are Thurau’s last feats in the 1980s.

Afterwards, the ‘Blonde Angel’ increasingly becomes the ‘Fallen Angel’, as the Belgian magazine Cyclo Sprint reported in 2012. Between October 10, 1974 when Peter Post contracted him for his Raleigh team at the World Championships in Montreal and his final cycling year in 1989, he wears the jerseys of no less than thirteen different sponsors. In 1982 alone, he goes through three different sponsors in one year. At Kotter, he is dismissed in spring due to his weak performances. Hoonved hires Thurau for two months. He will only receive a new contract if he performs well in the Tour, but Thurau does not finish the Tour. Finally, Toshiba employs him in August for the last five months of the year. In his final season, 1989, sponsor Brügelmann has Thurau ride anonymously. Der Didi has no teammates. He is lonely and alone. It is illustrative of his definitive decline.

A SUMMARY OF THUREAU’S TEAMS

Even after his career, ‘der Didi’ remains a ‘Fallen Angel’. He frequently gets into trouble with the law. Sometimes he falls deep into debt due to dubious practices of his real estate firm, other times he receives a fine of 10,000 German marks for speeding down a one-way street from the wrong direction or he is sentenced to six months in prison for forging a building permit. Getting fines for kicking a dog and hitting a woman fits into the pattern of the ‘Fallen Angel’.

The moral low point is his conviction for embezzling social benefits intended for his disabled father. In total, the former cycling star pockets an amount of 49,000 marks meant for his father. Thurau senior was once his most fervent supporter. He introduced Didi to cycling but later there is no sign of respect or gratitude from the son towards his father. On the contrary. When father Helmut Thurau suffers a spinal cord injury in a cycling accident and requires care, he receives an allowance to cover nursing expenses.

The money is transferred to son Didi because he is mobile and will manage the funds. But Didi does not pass on anything to his father, who despite several phone calls, does not receive a cent more from his son. Thurau senior waits in vain for eleven months. Then he hires a lawyer who files a lawsuit against junior.

When the case goes to court, Didi does not show up. ‘I am snowed in Switzerland,’ he informs the court. The judge doesn’t buy it. Father Helmut Thurau senior presents a bill to sonny boy Didi: €49,000 euros. The judge fines the sinner €39,900 euros.

Whether he has learned from all this is doubtful. Didi Thurau remains an extremely unreliable egoist. In 2017, he agrees to participate in an episode of the TV program Andere Tijden Sport about Hennie Kuiper: ‘The Lost Tour of 1977’. But on the day of filming, he cancels a few hours before the appointment. Despite desperate attempts by documentary makers Bas Steman and Wiep Idzenga to reach out to him, he never responds again. This is in stark contrast to Hennie Kuiper who always kept his word. Fortunately, there is a world of difference between the ‘Fallen Angel’ and Hennie Kuiper - nicknamed ‘Bellefleur’ by caregiver Ruud Bakker due to his always rosy cheeks. Peter Post made an all-around wrong choice by playing the Thurau card back in 1977.

Distinction

Hennie Kuiper is crowned Dutch Sportsman of the Year 1977 on January 6, 1978, mainly due to his performances on l’Alpe d’Huez. He is pleased with the distinction and the accompanying trophy, the Jaap Eden Trophy, but he believes he should have received that recognition earlier: in 1975 to be precise. That year, he is the national cyclo-cross champion, wins the national road title, and secures the world title in Yvoir. ‘At the end of that season, it was a big disappointment for me not to be chosen as Sportsman of the Year.’

In early 1976, that title is awarded to athlete Jos Hermens at the Singer concert hall in Laren. In the book The Discovery of Dafne, Hermens expresses rather disparaging remarks to author Kees Sluys: ‘I remember Hennie Kuiper being upset about it. I think he had won a few classics that year.’

In 1978, Hennie Kuiper receives the Jaap Eden Trophy from the AVRO ('Bij de AVRO zit je goed'). This award is rightfully his as the Sportsman of the year 1977.

Hennie Kuiper makes a sanitary emergency stop. The owner of the white Mercedes fixes his gaze on photographer Hans Heus.