Ryan Wills in Tour of Belgium tonight

Twenty one year old Wills still isn't 100% after the back injury he sustained at the NZ Track Nationals in January but is looking forward to the exposure being in a tour like this provides.  His Lotto-Bodysol team is a feeder team to Silence Lotto who are also racing this tour.  With team scouts likely to be there Wills knows that to get a big contract he needs to be noticed.

"We have a leader who I am there to support but hopefully I'll get a chance to show myself during one of the stages," Wills told RoadCycling.co.nz.

"Build up has been a bit iffy really. The first part of the season has been hampered by the back injury but it seems to have come right over the last two weeks and I have pulled together two top 10 results the last two weekends," said a modest Wills who failed to mention that he finished first in his U23 category.

"I'm starting to feel better everyday, getting back to the point where I'm not fighting the bike but working with it. I'm not expecting too much from the tour, I'm there to do a job, but in saying that this is a great opportunity for exposure with the big teams of world cycling there."

"It will be a day-by-day process but I will target a stage to try for a break, I like the look of the 4th stage and of course the time trial."

The Tour of Belgium starts tonight NZ time, with a 184km race and concludes on the 31st with a 16km time trial.

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Tour of Belgium team and rider list