[1] Two riders, Rudy Pevenage and Ludo Peeters, broke away from the shattered peloton and gained a 2'15” lead by the Stockeu climb.

With 80 km (50 mi) to go, Hinault attacked solo on the snow-covered roads and ploughed on to Liège.

[4] After seven hours of racing in glacial temperatures, he finished nearly 10 minutes ahead of Hennie Kuiper to claim his second Liège–Bastogne–Liège victory.

[6] The edition was exceptionally hard because of the weather conditions: snow fell from the start and temperatures were near freezing point, leading commentators to call it Neige-Bastogne-Neige ("Snow-Bastogne-Snow").

He suffered frostbite in two fingers of his right hand, taking three weeks for proper movement to return,[9] and causing permanent damage.