Belgian Eddy Merckx won the race, while French riders Raymond Poulidor and Mariano Martínez finished second and third, respectively.

The day of racing was highlighted by two large solo efforts on the part of the French riders Francis Campaner and Bernard Thévenet.

[6][7] Reigning champion, Felice Gimondi, started the race despite sustaining injuries from a fall in the Bernocchi Cup the week beforehand.

[5] Gianni Pignata of La Stampa believed that the race would likely be won by an Italian or a Belgian rider, but stated that Dutchman Gerrie Knetemann and Spaniard Luis Ocaña were dark-horse candidates for the victory.

"[6] De Telegraaf writer Charles Taylor believed that José Manuel Fuente would be the best Spanish candidate for victory since Ocaña had recently recovered from sickness and injuries from crashes in different races.

[9] The seventh lap saw a speed drop by the leading rider and the chasing peloton, allowing Campaner's advantage to increase back to 2' 21".

[10] The field began to increase its tempo in the sixteenth lap and close the gap to the Conti-Maertens group, which prompted Maertens to wait up for the peloton, while Conti rode solo.

[10] On the seventeenth lap, a chase group with many race contenders – including Raymond Poulidor, Francesco Moser, Eddy Merckx, Maertens, and Herman Van Springel – formed and caught Conti.

[10] The riders that remained in the chase group were Van Springel, Poulidor, Mariano Martínez, Merckx, and Giacinto Santambrogio.

[10] Van Springel was dropped by the Merckx group before Thévenet was caught and passed on the final climb of Mount Royal,[12] with around 7 km (4.3 mi) remaining.

[14] Taylor believed that the Dutch participants competed in too many criteriums between the end of the Tour de France and the start of the World Championships, which led to them not having fresh enough legs for the race.

[4][14] Francesco Moser was found to have had a disappointing performance as he placed seventh on the day, in part because he was suffering from a leg cramp.