Update

Hello everyone,

I hope this update reaches you well.

I have done a fair bit of racing over the last 2 weeks so I won't go into too much detail but just that the form has come good at just the right time with Franco Belge just around the corner!

I have done 5 or 6 races' I did G.P Wallonie last Wednesday, 205km through the ardennes which was a good race for me. Last year I made it 120km, this year I made it to the finish. It was a crazy race with a lot of crashes. One of which occured in the last 20km and blocked the road therefore splitting the peloton and it never came back together.. It was a bummer because I was back getting a bidon from the car and it was the first time I had been to the back of the bunch the whole race.

Then on Friday I had a criterium. 70km round a 2km course. I was in the early move where after a few laps we were joined by 10 riders to form a group of 13. We went away eventually taking a lap.. I lined it up for the sprint after some unsuccessful attacks towards the end of the race. I left my run late and ended up 4th which I was happy with.



Saturday I went to the ardennes with Tom and Clinton and we ended with almost 6 hours so that was a good day training.

Monday I was pinning on a number again, this time in a pro kermis. I was in the early moves again but nothing stuck and eventually it came down to a bunch kick. Just about went through unscathed but that wouldn't be Belgium would it! I took a flying bike to my arm when a rider crashed in the last km. Ever had a chainring go between your fingers.. I can tell you it isn't the most enjoyable thing along with my bruised forearm, but like all good things we must move on..



Tuesday was another pro kermis. A group of 40 went clear early and just kept going away. We had no car in the convoy and when my team mate punctured I was more than happy to give him my wheel so I could head back for an early shower as the racing and lack of recovery has began to take its toll on my legs.

For now, i'll be racing again on the weekend then linig up in Franco Belge on the 1st of October. The race goes through to the 4th and has some of the biggest names in cycling lining up, including 4 kiwis which will be cool.

I then just have paris - tours on the 11th October and flying out on 14th.

Until then,
Thanks for reading,
Ryan

Kortemark Koers

I went to Kortemark Koers with the intention of not finishing.
I went there after a hard race the day before just to find a little bit more rhythem before some bigger races.

It went as well as a race you plan on not finishing can go.

Sensations were good although it wasn't the nicest weather I have raced in.
It was one of, if not, the windiest day I have ever had on a bike.

2 times my front wheel was lifted from under me and thrown 10-15cm before remounting with the road. Was rather scary. I was out of the race no longer than 5minutes before torrential rain started bucketing down. It was really good timing.



Suppose to be lining up in Leuven on Sunday for a UCI 1.1, but havn't seen selections yet although have mutual selection from director.

Team for tour of southland has also been confirmed and I can now release the names of the riders who will be flying the share the road flag with me.

We have 3 returning riders and 2 new recruits.

Roman van Uden, Matt Gilbert and Myself are the returning riders with Karl Murray and my lotto-bodysol team mate Romain Fondard joining us.

It's going to be a very strong and competitive team. Everybody coming off fairly successful seasons.


Team Time Trial Stage 1 Tour of Southland 2008

Roman took a huge win at the Tour of Gila this year, he has good sprint with a knack of getting in the break aways.

Matt, Ex pro, enough said. Big strong bike rider with a lot of experience!

Karl, Tour of Southland stage winner, 2x (?) green jersey for best sprinter at the Tour of Southland, Ex pro. Brings a lot of power to the team. He has raced in france for a few years so has the ability to be able to attack constantly.

Romain, our frenchman, where to start, 4th place finisher at cyclo cross world championships, winner of G.P Waregen where he outsprinted none other than Tyler Farrar, Stage winner in Kreiz Breizh, 6th in Druivenkoers-overijse UCI 1.1, 10th G.P Stad Zottegem UCI 1.1. He is well rounded, packs a good sprint and knows cross winds like the back of his hand. Coming from a cyclo cross background should be used to the aweful weather southland will no doubt put on for us as always.


End of the Tour of Southland 2008

So i'm looking forward to this years tour and training really hard. It's a race I can do well in and I will be chasing a good GC result and the Under 23 jersey.

Thats all for now,
Will fill you in with info as it comes.

Ryan

Geraadsbergen Koers / Grammont Course

Heres a quick update on how the race went yesterday.

It was my first race since the tour mi-aout in France almost a month ago so I
wasn't expecting too much of myself. Lined up with 233 other starters on a hard
wee 10km circuit to be done 17 times. The parcour included a 1km cobbled climb each lap which made positioning pretty important.

We caught the remaining 5 riders from the break with 600m to go so it ended in a mass sprint. I finished safely in the peloton which was more than I expected so training has been paying off which is motivating.



I'm about to get myself organised to pin on a number again today in the Kortemark Koers. It's raining and windy and will probably be missrable.

Only planning on riding half of the race.

Just to get into race rhythem and find a bit more race legs before a UCI 1.1 race this weekend.



Will update after race.

Ryan

News

I'm still here. Been waiting for the day where I would have motivation to just let my fingers do the typing and not have to think too much about it.

It's been a re-building period over the last month. Going from having my best condition ever at the Ronde de L'Oise and Romsee to not being able to ride for more than an hour without my foot flaring up just goes to show you how much over a roller coaster journey this sport can be. It's not only mentally frustrating but it also mentally fatigues you. Such is life.

The last month has gone well. Since the tour really, I've found a shoe thats not giving me any greif at all which is good and I have also been to see a specialist who said it's not something he's used to seeing. Basically he told me that it's not a physically injury, but a bio-mechanical injury which means it's either a nerve, tendon or tissue flaring up when pressure is applied for extended periods of time.



I have got back into a good routine over the last 3 weeks which has seen me putting in the proper training days, 3, 4, 6 hour rides and I can feel myself getting back on top of it all.

I still have time to get some results which is the main thing. I have 44 days left of the season, starting tomorrow with Geraadsbergen koers followed the next day by Kotemark Koers. Both will be hard, Geraadsbergen with the cobbles and Kortemark with the wind and rain thats forecast but i'm excited to be pinning a number on again as it's been a couple of weeks since I last raced. Actually since the tour mi-aout. so it has been a while.

That could go 1 of 2 ways, it's either going to snap me into condition or i'm going to be fresh and raring to go. Time will tell.



I think nows also a good time to reveal my summer plans. I will be arriving home 16th of October and soon after making the trip down to invercargill for the Tour of Southland. I have linked up with the Share the Road team again this year and my good friend and Lotto-Bodysol team mate, Romain Fondard, will be making the journey down under for the Tour. We are pretty excited to go there this year. I have never gone to the Tour 100% and this year I want to give it a real go as long as i'm not too fatigued from a long european season.

Official team release to come within the next few weeks.



I will be back in Christchurch over the summer too. I thought about Whakatane but the roads just bore me to death now and doing the pre-season block solo isn't too much fun, so i'll head down to chch and prepare for the Nationals which will also be held there.

At this stage i'm looking at coming back over beginning over Febuary for a month long training camp in the south of France before the season proper gets going. I think this will make for a better prepared season. The other big difference next year is instead of trying to be consistant all season, i'm going to have target peaks. So i'll peak for hand full of races in a bid to make the next step in my career. More on that in a later post. Watch this space.

Here is the link to an interview I did for www.roadcycling.co.nz last week.

http://roadcycling.co.nz/TeamTalk/season-roundup-ryan-wills.html

So from here, the hard work continues and the results will hopefully follow.

Thanks for reading and i'll try and keep you all a bit more in the loop!

Ryan



The boys with Bernard Hinault at Tour de Bretagne.