He will be one of my leading players and I expect him to get maximum points He is a perfect captain's

"He will be one of my leading players and I expect him to get maximum points He is a perfect captain's player. He hasn't done himself justice in the Ryder Cup but he is a good guy to have in the dressing-room."Torrance made his first Ryder Cup courtesy of the Irish Open in 1981, and made his mark at The Belfry in 1985 when he beat Andy North and sank the winning putt on the 18th. That was with a conventional putter and Torrance, who has never been regarded as being particularly effective on the greens but highly professional in getting there, has won a lot more money since switching to the long version.Nevertheless, his Ryder Cup record is played 23 matches, won four, halved six and lost 13. Perhaps it was a combination of the heat, the location (Scotland's Caledonian Club in London) and the fact that Gallacher had possibly let Torrance down in the Sunningdale Foursomes a few months ago, that led the captain to sing his praises.But Gallacher went even further. He predicted that a European would win the Open Championship at St Andrews next week and that that European could well be Torrance.

"He's got the game and the swing," Gallacher said.Gallacher, appointed captain in succession to Tony Jacklin following the tie at The Belfry in 1989, said he would take the term on for two of the biennial matches. Europe lost at Kiawah Island in 1991 and again at The Belfry two years ago.Seve Ballesteros who, if fit, will play in Rochester, suggested that Torrance should be the captain "I advised him not to stand," Gallacher said. "I told him he would be in the next Ryder Cup and that if he accepted the captaincy it would signal the end of his playing career."Although he has said this before, Gallacher will relinquish the captaincy after September and an obvious front runner for the leadership at Valderrama in Spain in 1997 is Ballesteros. The Spaniard, and his compatriot Jose- Maria Olazabal, are both currently more accustomed to a walking stick than a driver. Could they go round the Ryder Cup course in a buggy? "I could ask," Gallacher said, "but the Americans would say no.". Cycling ROBIN NICHOLL with the Tour de FranceAccording to Richard Virenque, the Tour de France begins today.

The Frenchman arrived at Le Grand Bornand in the Alps yesterday and unpacked his red polka dot King of the Mountains jersey in readiness for the opening round between the Tour flyweights.The 170 riders flew into Geneva, passing high above the mountain where today the first serious blows will be struck after a week of sparring through Brittany, Normandy and Belgium.Heavyweights such as the Tour leader, Miguel Indurain, weighing in at 79kg (12st 4lb), will use strength and tactics to ensure that the livelier lightweights do not usurp them.The Italian Marco Pantani, who weighs a mere 56kg, represents the kind of danger Indurain set out to lessen in Sunday's time trial. "I wanted to open big time gaps on the climbers because I know that I will be attacked a lot in the mountains," Indurain said.Pantani is 11 and a half minutes behind Indurain, who leads the 72 Danish kilos of Bjarne Riis by 23 seconds. For Riis, who finished fifth overall in 1993, this is a renaissance.Always capable of winning stages in the tours of France and Italy, the 31-year-old found new heights of form on Sunday that came close to toppling Indurain. Because he did not receive any time checks on Indurain, the Dane did not realise that in the closing stages he was faster than the Spaniard.Tony Rominger started as the biggest threat to Indurain, and might still be, as Riis's weight may prevent his driving Indurain harder as they climb. The Swiss rider is carrying only 64kg plus the kind of reputation that could unsettle the normally imperturbable Indurain. As the first Swiss King of the Mountains, Rominger took two Alpine stages and then beat Indurain at his speciality, the time trial. That was two years ago, though, and Rominger has yet to hit that peak again.

He trails Indurain by 2min 32sec, 12 seconds behind the serious contender for yellow, the Russian Evgeny Berzin (65kg), riding in his first Tour.Rominger and Berzin both aspire to the yellow jersey but Virenque, of similar build, is prepared to settle for the colours he already holds. It is the fight among the lighter riders that the heavies have to contain.The hard times start today. The Savoy Alps offers the 1,040 metres Col des Saisies, the 1,605m Col du Meraillet, 1,968m Cormet de Roselend, and to finish, a climb of nearly 20km to La Plagne, which stands at 1,980m. It was here in 1987 that the Irishman, Stephen Roche, had to have oxygen after pushing himself to the limit.No one underestimates the mountains. Eugene Christophe (the first man to wear a yellow jersey, in 1919), won three Alpine stages in 1912, one with a solo run of 315km. Next year, in the Pyrenees, he was forced to walk 14km from the top of the Tourmalet to a smithy to repair his broken forks. A plaque on the forge wall commemorates the event.Tomorrow takes the field to the notorious L'Alpe d'Huez, with its serpent- like trail to the finish at 1,860m.

A ski resort, it is also the shrine of the Tour's mountaineers, and fans in their thousands make the pilgrimage to pack its 20km ascent.When the American, Andy Hampsten, won there in 1992 he rated it "better than a world title." Six years before that, Greg LeMond and his team-mate Bernard Hinault, who compiled eight Tour victories between them, crossed the L'Alpe d'Huez finish side by side after annihilating the opposition This year's annihilation begins today.. Rugby League Wigan have confirmed making a club-record bid for New Zealand's rugby union World Cup giant Jonah Lomu. The club's vice-chairman Tom Rathbone refused to reveal the actual size of the offer but said: "It is the biggest amount of money Wigan have ever offered."We have never given up on the hope that Jonah may like to come to Wigan and our offer is supported by people who think he has great marketing potential."David McKnight, head of the player management company Premier Crew, is understood to have represented Wigan after flying out to New Zealand last week Wigan are offering Lomu a three-and-a-half year contract.. Boxing Frank Bruno's prize for beating the World Council heavyweight champion, Oliver McCall, at Wembley stadium on 2 September would be a return fight with Mike Tyson according to Don King. The American promoter, put that on record when he held court at London's Dorchester Hotel yesterday."I think Tyson could win the world title today," King said."Frank Bruno is going to be making his fourth challenge for the world crown Usually, when you get three strikes you are out. The winner of McCall- Bruno will fight Tyson, so Frank has a lot to gain.''. CRICKET MIKE CAREY reports from Old TraffordLancashire 437 & 280 for 9 dec Northamptonshire 290 & 194 Lancashire win by 233 runsNorthamptonshire found themselves on a long road, albeit one with plenty of turning, here yesterday and were emphatically beaten by 233 runs. They were undone, though, not so much by Lancashire's spin bowlers as by the pace and swing and at times the sheer hostility of Wasim Akram.Wasim took seven wickets for 73, emerging with 10 from the match.