Rotorua's Sam Osborne takes Xterra Poland

Rotorua's Sam Osborne backed up his impressive effort in Italy two weeks ago by winning Xterra Poland. Photo/Supplied

Rotorua's Sam Osborne executed a near perfect race to win the elite title at Xterra Poland on Sunday backing up from his second place finish in Italy two weeks ago.

The victory is Osborne's fourth this season and first on the European Tour after a strong showing in the Asia- Pacific Tour saw him take three wins earlier in the year, including his hometown race.

It was near perfect for the Kiwi exiting the water in a small group of three but took the lead from the first transition and never really gave it up.

"That swim was ridiculously fast today. Jen's is the fastest swimmer in our sport and it felt like I was hanging on for dear life that first 200m, but I knew that if I just didn't let those feet go it was going to be a great way to set the day up," Osborne said.

Osborne was joined on the bike by Spaniard Roger Serrano in what looked to be a carbon copy of Xterra Italy a fortnight before.

"I put the hammer down early on and Roger came with, but there wasn't a lot of cohesion going on between us, the only time Roger felt the wind on his face was when he tried to attack me and he'd just go back to sitting on again."

Coming into the second transition the stage was set for an epic running show but Osborne was not having a bar of it, running away with a stomping four minute margin at the finish line.

The Spaniard made a mess of his second transition giving the Kiwi a 25 second head start into the run, which had grown to one minute by the 3km mark.

"I had real problems with my shoes in the second transition and lost about 30 seconds," Serrano said.

"I had to stop, slow everything down and just re-gather myself."

This is Osborne's first European Tour victory since winning Xterra Sweden in 2015.

"I am really happy with how today panned out, it feels so good to be breaking the tape again. It was a complete performance for me, I felt strong across all three (disciplines) today and that's something I haven't been overly happy with since coming to Europe.

"I knew it was there, I just needed the legs to come out and play the game with me. Let's hope they are here to stay now"

The European Tour continues with Xterra Germany in just six days so recovery will be key ahead of next weekend. It's a race with fond memories for Osborne after he claimed second at the European Championships just 20 seconds behind three time world champ Ruben Ruzafa last year.

The win moves Osborne up to sixth on the European Tour with two races to go.