Triathlon: Osborne claims first Xterra title

Rotorua's Sam Osborne has won Xterra Sweden. Photo / George Novak

Rotorua triathlete Sam Osborne has won his first Xterra title after topping the podium at Xterra Sweden.

Osborne finished second at Xterra New Zealand in Rotorua in April, and went one better on Saturday in Sweden to claim his first Xterra title.

"Was really special to take my first win in an Xterra. Led the swim out and from there it was full throttle for the next 2 hour," Osborne posted on his Facebook page.

Xterra is an off-road triathlon race with events all over the world. Osborne is primarily a road triathlete but also takes part in off-road triathlon events.

During the men's race on Saturday, Osborne led out of the 1.5km swim and posted the second fasted time on the 30km mountain bike leg.

He managed to hold onto his lead during the 10km trail run crossing the finish line in a time of 2h 31m 45s, 16 seconds ahead of second-placed Kris Coddens (Greece) and 24 seconds ahead of third-placed Jan Pyott (Switzerland).

Osborne told the event organisers after the race he kept hearing different splits, and just tried to stay at a quick pace.

"I kept hearing different splits," Osborne said. "One time I am two minutes up, next time they said nobody is near me and then I heard 40 seconds. I just kept going at as good a pace as I could and hoped for the best."

Helena Erbenova (Czech Republic) won the women's race. The Xterra World Championships are being held in Hawaii in November.