Sam Osborne and Sam Kingsford’s tri focus is more tarmac than trail nowadays but give them a whiff of those Whakarewarewa Forest pines and the old, off-road juices quickly stir. 

The Kiwi power couple are back to lend their local legend status to the 21st edition of XTERRA Rotorua on Saturday and won’t be able to help giving the 1km swim, 26km bike, 11km run the full horns treatment it deserves. A pair of in-form Italians will ensure that. 

Michele Bonacina and Marta Menditto arrive at Lake Tikitapu (Blue Lake) fresh from full course silver medal performances at the opening round of the XTERRA World Cup in Dunsborough, Western Australia last weekend.

XTERRA world No. 6 Menditto, who was also 4th in the earlier short track in WA, is back to defend her ‘Middle Earth’ title after beating Maeve Kennedy and the NZ-based Aussie’s compatriot Hannah Lee-Young in Rotorua 12 months ago.

Hometown hero Osborne is out to extend his Rotorua record to a 6th title in nine years. Only the Covid-19 pandemic (twice) and Auckland’s Jack Moody (2023) have interrupted the 33-year-old’s golden run. 

XTERRA

Moody is back for another crack at the $2000 winner’s cheque while 2018 world championship bronze medallist Osborne will hope his local knowledge gives him the edge over all-comers, notably Bonacina.

Regarded as one of the preeminent swimmers on the off-road circuit, Bonacina led another Italian and Rotorua starter, Federico Spinazzè, out of the water in WA by 30 seconds. In seasons past, that buffer would have been quickly eaten away when the 28-year-old from Dolzago (northeast of Milan) hit dry land. However, the XTERRA world no.8 has worked hard on his bike handling and running and was able to hold off all but Jens Emil Sloth Nielsen, the Dane making his race winning pass with just 5km to go. 

XTERRA

A key leveller could well be all the mid-week rain that will see the Rotorua track listed as ‘soft’ at best. The mountain bike leg shapes as particularly critical as a result and could well be a trump card for Osborne given his intimate knowledge of the Whakarewarewa. 

An injury niggle looks set to prevent Kieran McPherson, 4th overall in the World Cup standings after his short track 2nd and full course 5th in Dunsborough, from bolstering the Kiwi assault. 

The Matamata world No.11 will start the festival’s separate 26km mountain bike race, leaving Osborne and Moody to battle the Italians, including Spinazzè who was 6th in the WA full course. 

Robbie White, sandwiched between Osborne and McPherson at XTERRA Wellington in early March, is another Kiwi hope while roadies Lachlan Haycock and the 17-year-old Whakatane twins, Xavier and Oliver Christie, are others to watch.

XTERRA

Will Orchard, Kennedy race?
🤔 Like Osborne, Kingsford is now focused on the 70.3 circuit and will race Saturday fresh from claiming 7th at the Ironman Pro Series season opener in Geelong. She last contested XTERRA Rotorua two years ago, finishing 2nd to Kennedy.

The XTERRA world No.10 and PTO No.90’s sole Rotorua win came in 2021, the year Osborne claimed his 4th title. The pair famously went on to do another ‘the Sam’s double’ at the Americas championship in Odgen, Utah, that September – a highlight to this day among Osborne’s 16 and Kingsford’s 9 XTERRA wins. 

Osborne and Kingsford are the second known couple to do the Rotorua double; Aussie Ben Allen and British partner Jacqui Slack led the way in 2012. The couple married in 2017 with the new Mrs Jacqui Allen going on to claim her 2nd, 3rd and record 4th Rotorua triumphs over the next three years.

Organisers are hopeful Aucklander Lizzie Orchard and Kennedy, who claimed the Asia-Pacific title in Dunsborough, will be late entries in the women’s pro field. Orchard is 6th in the World Cup standings after a 7th and 6th placings in the short track and full course in WA.


XTERRA Rotorua Festival
Saturday, April 5

10am – Short course  (5km/9.1km/5.5km)
10:45am – Long course (1km/26km/11km)* 

Why it matters?
XTERRA Rotorua doubles as the Tri NZ Cross Triathlon Championships for the first time. The final Tri NZ Suzuki Series event of the 2024-25 summer serves as the official qualifier for June’s World Triathlon Multisport Championships in Pontevedra. A provisional team of 70 have already signed up for Spain and that team is set to grow with up to 16 spots per age group and gender on the line in Rotorua. There are also 28 slots (1 male and 1 female in each of the 14 age groups) on the line for September’s XTERRA worlds in Trentino, Italy.

History
A champion’s roll call at XTERRA Rotorua reveals a fascinating mix of road and trail world champions, Olympians and characters with imposing nicknames like 2015 champion Suzie ‘the Soul Crusher’ Snyder (USA). Sydney 2000 Olympian and out-going Tri NZ board member Evelyn Willamson won the inaugural women’s title in 2003 while Athens 2004 gold medallist Hamish Carter won a hat-trick of titles from ’04-06. He went on to claim the 2006 XTERRA World Championship title; Hayden Wilde (2021) is the only other Kiwi to achieve that feat. The 2014 champion Conrad Stoltz is undoubtedly the most pedigreed off-road triathlete to win Rotorua. The two-time South African Olympian, nicknamed the ‘Caveman’ won 4 XTERRA world titles and 3 World Triathlon (then ITU) Cross Triathlon Championships. Terenzo Bozzone, the 2008 70.3 world champion, and two-time winner Braden Currie, a full Ironman worlds bronze medallist in 2021, are other famous Rotorua alumni.  

NB: *Incorporates Tri NZ Suzuki Series Cross Tri Champs

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