1, 2, 3: Timaru's Nicole Begg (left) has Wanganui's Jessica van Bentum and Rebecca Smith chasing her hard this summer in the regional speed skating events. Photo/Supplied
1, 2, 3: Timaru's Nicole Begg (left) has Wanganui's Jessica van Bentum and Rebecca Smith chasing her hard this summer in the regional speed skating events. Photo/Supplied
"She is a former world champion and a vastly experienced competitor at senior world championship level.
"Into the second year of her comeback, after a 2010 injury put her out of the sport for two years, Begg is on a mission to re-establish herself at the top of the sport and a pair of teenage up-and-comers were not going to stand in her way."
However, Ken Smith said Van Bentum, 17, and Rebecca Smith, 16, have a primary focus on selection in the 2014 New Zealand junior team off to the world championships, and they were the two top juniors in Timaru "by a clear margin".
"Local sprint specialist Dahna Penty got ahead of Smith in three sprints and Analiese Le Roy picked up a second in the 15km elimination.
"But the rest of the 13-stage tour was a Begg/van Bentum/Smith procession."
The other Wanganui skaters on the tour were Nicole Travers and Monique Cleeve, who finished eighth and 13th respectively.
The A grade men's tour was won convincingly by Kapiti's multiple world champion Peter Michael, followed by Antony Nalder of Valley In-line and Kapiti's Josh Whyte.
The Wanganui team's next competition is the NZ Banked Track Nationals on February 15-16, also in Timaru.