Career
He is the father of current Bora-Argon 18 professional cyclist Björn Thurau. After his victory in the points classification in the Vuelta a España and a fourth place in the general classification in the Vuelta a España in 1976, Thurau was seen as a talented rider, but not seen as a rider for the general classification. Thurau signed a contract to ride the 1978 season as a team leader at Ijsboerke.
Before his contract started, but after he signed it, he rode the 1977 UCI Road World Championships.
Seven kilometers before the finish, he was away together with Francesco Moser, and Moser punctured. To the surprise of commentators, including the coach of the French team Jacques Anquetil and Thurau"s team leader Peter Post, Thurau waited for Moser, and was beaten in the sprint by Moser.
This caused rumours that Thurau had sold the championship to Moser. lieutenant later became clear that Thurau"s new bosses at Ijsboerke did not want Thurau to ride in the rainbow jersey, but wanted him to keep his sponsored jersey.
Thurau"s primary goals for the next season became the 1978 Giro d"Italia and the 1978 UCI Road World Championships, and his team skipped the 1978 Tour de France, because they felt there were too many mountain finishes for a rider like Thurau.
Thurau tested positive for stimulants after Stage 8 of the 1987 Tour de France. He was fined 5,000 FF (£500), incurred a 10-minute time penalty, placed last on the stage and was given a one month suspended ban. However, by the time the positive result was revealed, Thurau had already abandoned the Tour.
After he had retired, in 1989, he gave an interview to the Bild newspaper, in Germany, where he revealed he had doped throughout his career, including the use of Amphetamines, Testosterone and Cortisone.