Iconic roadside fan Didi the Devil robbed at Tour de France start in Barcelona

On és el diable? Where’s the Devil? If sharp-eyed Tour de France TV viewers were wondering why Didi ‘The Devil’, for over three decades one of the race’s most famous and longstanding fans, could not be seen on this year’s stage 1 in Barcelona, the answer was that he was standing guard over his campervan, which had been broken into and robbed.

Catalan newspaper La Vanguardia reported on Wednesday that Dieter ‘Didi’ Senft, the German inventor and designer who has become famous for his Tour roadside alter ego of ‘The Devil’, had been the victim of a robbery in the city, causing him to miss out on stage 1 completely.

Curiously enough, the Pyrenees were where Senft first put in an appearance, on the stage won by former Colombian cycling great Oliverio Rincón with a long breakaway to Andorra, back in 1993.

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Then as now, Senft appeared on TV next to fans and yelling wildly at the riders as they passed by on another day of scorching heat – though arguably not as warm as his usual, non-summer, residence.

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