New HTC-Columbia recruit Chloe Hosking has hit the ground running, taking the team’s first victory of the new season in the Australian Criterium Championships.

Despite being caught up in a mid-race crash, Hosking finished well clear of the pack in a field sprint at the end of a fast and furious thirty-lap criterium in Ballarat, Australia. Hosking’s lightning charge for the line earned her both a silver medal in the overall event, as well as an emphatic victory in the Under-23 category. The senior category was taken by lone breakaway Carly Light.

Thanks to her win in the U-23 event and the runner’s up position overall, the 19-year-old HTC-Columbia rider has now claimed her first ever medals in any Australian national road category. HTC-Columbia can mark the win as it’s first of the 2010 racing season.