[3] The 83rd edition of the "Doyenne Race" started on the Place Saint-Lambert in the centre of Liège, before heading south towards Bastogne and returning north to finish in the suburban community of Ans.

The course contained 13 categorized climbs in the Ardennes:[4] The race started in cold and sunny weather and was animated by a solo breakaway from Austrian Georg Totschnig who broke clear after 6 km (3.7 mi) and had a maximum lead of 20 minutes on the peloton.

[6] Climbing specialist Pantani was quickly dropped on the flat stretches and Johan Museeuw, the ruling world champion, tried to bridge the gap to the leaders but missed out by 50 metres.

[4] Alex Zülle and Laurent Jalabert, trying to distance Michele Bartoli, attacked one after the other on the Côte de Sart Tilman, but were unable to drop the Italian.

As the two leaders approached the finish, Michele Bartoli launched an ultimate attack in the final uphill kilometre, dropping Jalabert and claiming his first win in the Ardennes classic.