Dietrich Thurau

Dietrich Thurau
Personal information
Full nameDietrich Thurau
Born (1954-11-09) 9 November 1954 (age 69)
Frankfurt, West Germany
Team information
DisciplineRoad and Track
RoleRider
Professional teams
1974–1977TI–Raleigh
1978–1979IJsboerke
1980Puch - Sem
1981–1982Kotter
1982Hoonved
1982–1983Toshiba
1983Del Tongo - Colnago
1984Portas
1985Hitachi - Splendor
1986Supermercati Brianzoli
1987Roland - Skala
1987–1988Panasonic - Isostar
1989Brügelmann
Major wins
Liège–Bastogne–Liège
6 stages Tour de France
Medal record
Men's road bicycle racing
Representing  West Germany
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 1977 San Christóbal Elite Road Race
Silver medal – second place 1979 Valkenburg Elite Road Race

Dietrich "Didi" Thurau (German pronunciation: [ˈdiːtʁɪç ˈtuːʁaʊ] ; born 9 November 1954) is a retired German professional road bicycle racer. His biggest career achievements include winning the one-day classic, Liège–Bastogne–Liège, his home country's Deutschland Tour and surprising the field at the 1977 Tour de France by capturing four stages and holding the yellow jersey as leader of the general classification from the prologue for 15 days. Thurau did win the young rider classification although he lost the overall lead to eventual winner Bernard Thévenet.

Thurau was German pursuit champion three times and won 29 six-day races. He is the father of former professional cyclist Björn Thurau. In 1989, he revealed he had doped throughout his career.