News for March 12

Top Ten UCI Points (as of March 3 1996)

 1. Laurent Jalabert 3099
 2. Miguel Indurain 1870
 3. Tony Rominger 1719
 4. Alex Zulle 1120
 5. Johan Museeuw 1060
 6. Abraham Olano 892
 7. Claudio Chiappucci 813
 8. Francesco Casagrande 777
 9. Andrei Tchmil 751
10. Michele Bartoli 731

De Las Cuevas Fools Us All

My [Roger!] scepticism about Armand De Las Cuevas joining MX Onda was justified. Not Banesto, Collstrop, Lotto, Aki-Gipiemme, Mx Onda. No, DLC has agreed to sign for Casino-C'est votre equipe to the end of the season. DLC hasn't ridden a race since the end of the 1995 Tour de France, initially because of a dispute with Castorama manager Cyrille Guimard.

"I got my last salary in June," DLC said, " I rode the Tour de France unpaid." His first ride will be in Cholet-Pays de Loire on 24 March, and he will then ride the Criterium International, the Circuit de la Sarthe, the Tour de Vaucluse and the other Coupe de France races. Casino directeur sportif feels that DLC's presence in the team may improve its chances of riding the Tour de France.