Road cycling: Wills rates home win among favourites

Whakatane's Ryan Wills has won the inaugural Tour of the Bay of Plenty in Rotorua. Photo / Stephen Parker

Whakatane pro cyclist Ryan Wills has rated his latest victory at the Tour of the Bay of Plenty among the favourites of his career.

Wills returned home from Europe recently following a season with Belgium team VL Technics-Abutriek.

He entered the inaugural Tour of the Bay of Plenty, in Rotorua, over the long weekend with his coach Karl Murray from Auckland.

Wills, 26, won the fourth and final stage yesterday - a 68km ride around Waikite Valley - to add to his overall lead and claim the tour title.

After the race, he dedicated the victory to his great grandmother who had lived in Rotorua and died this year.

"I thought I'm going to win this tour for her. That was my driving motivation really.

"I have won a lot of big races in Europe but this is right up there solely because of that."

Wills' coach Murray finished second overall, with the duo taking two stages apiece. Wills said the tour was a great new event, with all four stages based around Rotorua.

"It's great to have a cool tour in our home region ... I hope it continues to grow." He said it had massive potential.

"For sure. It could be up there with the level of the Tour de Vineyards in Nelson."

Wills said he really enjoyed passing on his experience to younger riders when he was back home.

"I like to think of it like that," he said. "Because I race in Europe so much I don't get to race here very often ... so when I'm home I like to come to a few races like these."

Wills said his next event would be the Tour of Southland early next month. Wills is a member of Cycling Rotorua.

The Tour of the Bay of Plenty covered about 240km across three days. A starter tour was also held, which covered a smaller distance. About 300 riders took part in the tour and single stages.

Ivarsson surprised and delighted

Emmelie Ivarsson could not wipe the look off her face after claiming the women's title at the Tour of the Bay of Plenty.

It was a mix of elation and surprise.

The Swedish cyclist, who now lives in Rotorua, said she was in disbelief after winning the tour yesterday.

"I was not even going to do the tour a week ago," she said. In fact, her boyfriend had to talk her into it.

She said she went into the tour thinking a top-10 would be good, so to win was a nice surprise.

Ivarsson converted to road cycling 18 months ago, after specialising in marathon running.

"I was a runner. I got into road cycling because I got injured," she said. "But I'm finding out my body is more built for road cycling."

Ivarsson said it was her first win as a cyclist.

Tour of the Bay of Plenty results:
Overall: Men: 1 Ryan Wills, 2 Karl Murray, 3 Joel Yates; Women: 1 Emmelie Ivarsson, 2 Sarah Pitcher-Campbell, 3 Mirjam van den Boom.
Final stage (Waikite): Men: 1 Ryan Wills, 2 Tom Carter, 3 Joel Yates; Women: 1 Emmelie Ivarsson, 2 Maddie Park, 3 Nan Baker.