Quinziato doubles up in Africa

Manuel Quinziato (Liquigas) (Image credit: Sirotti)

Manuel Quinziato started off his 2008 campaign with bookend victories in the South African Intaka Tech World's View Challenge on Thursday. After scoring a win in the first stage, the Italian had his encore on the final stage in Pietermaritzburg. The 28-year-old took the first stage in a solo breakaway, while Thursday's was won in a bunch sprint ahead of the U23 World Champion Peter Velits.

With another win by Leonardo Bertagnolli in the second stage, Liquigas' hat-trick made team manager Mario Scirea quite happy. "We return to Italy with a good plunder," said Scirea. Quinziato was also pleased. "I'm happy, for me and for the team: starting off on the right foot is good for the mood. To avoid the sprint, I tried to go away five and three kilometres to go," he continued. "but I saw that it wasn't going to fly. I played everything right in the final sprint and the result was fantastic."

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Laura Weislo has been with Cyclingnews since 2006 after making a switch from a career in science. As Managing Editor, she coordinates coverage for North American events and global news. As former elite-level road racer who dabbled in cyclo-cross and track, Laura has a passion for all three disciplines. When not working she likes to go camping and explore lesser traveled roads, paths and gravel tracks. Laura's specialises in covering doping, anti-doping, UCI governance and performing data analysis.