Begg, Michael put in world-class displays
Nicole Begg and Peter Michael continue to lead inline skating's Tour of Timaru after stages five and six.
Both remained unbeaten after the pursuit and 10,000m points finals at the Caroline Bay rink last night.
Begg and Michael put in world-class displays collecting the maximum 41 points by winning the sprints on each of the three laps, leaving the other skaters to fight for the minor places.
Wayne Begg destroyed the men's field after he started at break-neck speed before pulling out after three of the 60 laps.
As the others chased his start, the field blew apart and only Upper Hutt's Anthony Nalder stayed with Michael picking up early points.
As Michael cruised ahead, lapping the field at the halfway mark, 14-year-old Ollie Jones battled with Kapiti's Josh Whyte for second after reeling in Nalder.
Jones looked to have it wrapped up but Whyte scored a point on each of the final four sprints to tie with Jones on nine points.
Whyte was then awarded second as he finished ahead of Jones across the finish with Nalder fourth as the only other competitor to have scored points.
Begg was just as dominant in the women's A-grade, leaving Upper Hutt's Stephanie Challis to fight with Samantha Michael, of Palmerston North, for the minor placings.
Challis did enough to finish second with 12 points, two ahead of Michael after a great battle.
The pursuit final was also one-way traffic with Michael catching Nalder in the 1000m race.
Jones and Whyte had a excellent race for third with Whyte getting up late to win.
Begg all but caught Michael in the women's final but again the race for third was an exciting one, with commentator Bill Begg almost losing his voice as the tension grew.
Waimate rising star Emily van der Heyden qualified fourth but sneaked home ahead of Palmerston North's Tegan Roffe for third.
The 14-year-old van der Heyden was spurred home by an enthusiastic crowd.
The action returns to the rink tonight with 1000m and 12,000m finals before shifting to Waimate tomorrow for a flying 400m time trial, the 800m and 8000m.
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