Osborne claims second at Xterra Italy

Sam Osborne winning the 2017 Xterra Rotorua in April. Stephen Barker/Marathon-Photos.com/Barker Photography

After a hotly-contested battle Rotorua's Sam Osborne has achieved a hard fought, second place at Xterra Italy behind Switzerland's Xavier Dafflon.

After leading for the majority of the 2hr 53m race over the weekend Osborne was only to be caught in the final 4km in the run.

"I would have loved to have won, but I finished absolutely ruined so I have to be happy with that. Xavi was super strong today and I just have to give him a pat on the back. He was just that little bit better today, I just hope that I made him hurt like I did to get it."

Osborne was just a tick behind Spaniard Roger Serrano out of the water but was quick to take the front of the race and emerged from the Miracle of Scanno Bridge under the highway in first. Osborne did the lion's share of the work on the first of two laps but the two stayed together the entire bike course.

The Spaniard got about a 20-second lead into T2 after Osborne took a heavy fall.

"I was probably being a bit ambitious with how I was attacking the corners on the last downhill, but that's racing - if you aren't pushing the limits you're just not doing it right."

Out of transition the young Kiwi made short work of the deficit and closed the gap immediately.

"I really took off on the run hard.

"I got him before the top of the first hill but going into town I started to get some stomach cramps down my side and Roger was right back on me. It took me 1km or so to hit my stride again."

Cramping seemed to be the order of the day as Dafflon began to suffer a bit as he caught Osborne mid-way through the run.

"We got to the highest place on the run and my legs were a bit tight. When we started down I pushed and got a gap and was able to hold my place."

Osborne's upcoming events
August 13: Xterra Poland
August 19: Xterra Germany
September 3: Xterra Denmark