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."
