La Salle College's Ricco Chan Ye-ko achieved a perfect ending to his outstanding junior campaign by winning last weekend's OSIM 2006 Hong Kong ITU Triathlon Asian Cup. Organised by the International Triathlon Union (ITU), the two-day event was held at Tai Mei Tuk, Tai Po, and attracted more than 1,000 athletes. Ricco, a Form Seven student, competed in the male elite junior category, which required athletes to swim 750 metres, cycle 20 kilometres and run 5km. He clinched the title with a time of 1 hour, 6 minutes, 23 seconds - 16 seconds ahead of first runner-up Ivan Lo Ching-hin of YCH Tung Chi Ying Memorial Secondary School. Ho King-fun of TWGH Kap Yan Directors' College came third in 1:07:05. Ricco was pleased with his time. 'I was quite relaxed and was leading from the beginning,' said the former South China Morning Post Student Sportsperson of the Year. 'It was a perfect farewell to the junior category. I'll be competing in the under-23 category next year.' In the female elite junior race, Joyce Cheung Ting-yan of Kau Yan College took the crown in 1:16:56. The sixth former was 38 seconds ahead of Vincci Hui Wai-sum, a Form Three student at Diocesan Girls' School. Form Four student Leanne Szeto Shiu-yan came third in 1:18:33. 'It was a tough one for me,' said Joyce after the race. 'I didn't start well in swimming so I had to catch up quite a bit in the cycling and running events. 'I tried to maintain my time at the Macau leg last month, but was still eight minutes slower because the course in Hong Kong is much steeper.' Hong Kong's top triathlete, Daniel Lee Chi-wo, was edged out by World Cup series champion Dimitry Gaag of Kazakhstan in the male elite open. Both Lee and Gaag shared the same official finishing time of 1:59:54 in the race which comprised a 1.5km swim, 40km bike race and 10km run. But Lee was beaten at the finish line by his closest rival. Australia's Greg Bennett finished third, five seconds behind Lee and Gaag. Bennett's wife, Laura, made up for her husband's disappointing finish to win the female elite open in 2:18:49. Hong Kong's Jocelyn Pollock came second (2:26:52), followed by Tania Mak So-ning (2:27:58).