Sam Osborne loves two things; racing and mastering the perfect coffee. Photo / Stephen Parker
Sam Osborne loves two things; racing and mastering the perfect coffee. Photo / Stephen Parker
With five wins on the Xterra Pan Am Tour and a fourth place finish at the Xterra World Championships in Maui, it was a busy year for Rotorua's Sam Osborne. He spoke to sports reporter David Beck about the highs, the lows and what comes next.
Imagine playing chess whileswimming, mountain biking and trail running as fast as possible. That's basically an Xterra off-road triathlon.
It is a sport which requires athletes to be exceptionally fit but also master strategists - two things that come with experience.
Rotorua's Sam Osborne has been on the Xterra circuit for several years now and as he gains experience he is becoming a formidable force. Last year, he won five races on the Xterra Pan Am Tour to claim the series title, on the back of winning the Asia-Pacific Tour each of the two years before that.
However, the season ended in disappointment with a fourth place finish at the World Championships in Maui. While proud to be fourth in the world, he was third in 2018 and it is a race he knows he is capable of winning on his day.
Now, at home in Rotorua taking some time to rest and recover while attempting to master the perfect coffee at Planet Bike, Osborne has had time to reflect on the result.
"I really enjoy being back home, riding the bike for fun. We haven't done a lot of this kind of riding so it's nice to be back on real mountain bike trails and I think it makes you appreciate Rotorua and the forest a lot more when you've been away.
Off-road triathlete Sam Osborne. Photo / Stephen Parker
"I'm a lot more comfortable with fourth at the world champs now. Obviously, there was a lot of disappointment on the day, it wasn't what I travelled to Maui to do and I definitely still think I can win that race.
"I didn't feel my best on the day and didn't get to implement the race plan I wanted to.
"We've always said, in a race, you only have one box of matches and you need to choose how you burn them. A lot of the time, there could be a stronger guy in the race but if you can outfox him and make him burn matches in little areas, you can make him hurt a lot more."
Osborne said, looking back, it was one of his most consistent years of racing and he was most proud of the results he achieved when he had to battle through adversity.
"It was a bit of a slow start, I had a lot of bad luck early in the year which maybe ended up being a blessing in disguise because I've never raced that consistently before. I made quite a few changes around my coaching set up this year.
Sam Osborne loves two things; racing and mastering the perfect coffee. Photo / Stephen Parker
"America looked amazing on paper, in terms of how it went, but there were days which weren't as good. At Alabama, the second race on the tour, I had a really bad reaction with the anti-fog on my goggles. During the bike I couldn't see much past my front wheel on a really technical bike course.
"I somehow pulled it off and things like that, when you find a way to win with the cards stacked against you, that's really rewarding.
"Mexico was another one, I had a really bad crash in training and probably needed quite a few stitches in my knee. The problem was, we were up in the mountains and we couldn't get anywhere, you had to drive 3-1/2 hours to get to a medical centre.
"I thought I would not end up racing that weekend but I did and I got caught on the bike which wasn't really on the plan. I only managed to get the gap of 15-20 seconds in transition to the run and that turned out to be the winning gap in the end. Finding ways to win and trying to improve the race craft, those are the highlights."
Rotorua's Sam Osborne in action during the Cyclezone Sprint Triathlon in January. Photo / File
Despite all the success overseas, winning Xterra Rotorua in front of his home crowd for the third consecutive year was a massive highlight.
"Winning at home is always pretty special and I knew I wasn't in my best form and the way I raced it was a little bit outrageous but sometimes you need to roll the dice. For the form I had, being as aggressive as I was at the front of the race was definitely a ballsy move.
"It's one of those things, you make a move and if you're going to commit you have to commit 100 per cent."
As far as the off season goes, Osborne is not capable of sitting still for too long. Offered entry in the six-day, 433km Pioneer Mountain Bike Race through the Southern Alps, he could not resist.
Osborne raced with New Zealand triathlete Ryan Sissons and the pair demonstrated their all around ability by finishing fourth.
We've always said, in a race, you only have one box of matches and you need to choose how you burn them. A lot of the time, there could be a stronger guy in the race but if you can outfox him and make him burn matches in little areas, you can make him hurt a lot more.
Now, he's back into Xterra training, more desperate than ever for another successful season and that elusive World Championship title.
"Next year will be similar, the first part of the year will be almost exactly the same but there's a new race this time, in Wellington. Then we have Rotorua, so to have two in New Zealand is really cool and I'll do Taiwan again.
"It's still up in the air between America and Europe after that but I enjoyed America so much and now I have five races to try to go back and defend. It will be a big ask to defend all five but it was close to being a perfect year so maybe aim for something like that."
Sam Osborne's 2019 results
Xterra Taiwan: 2nd Rotorua: 1st
Pan Am Tour (1st overall): Brazil: 1st Alabama: 1st Victoria: 1st Beaver Creek: 2nd Mexico: 1st Utah: 1st
