After the Milan-Sanremo win by Mario Cipollini, who keep the lead after the Tour of Flanders, Johan Museeuw take the lead with Tour of Flanders second place and Paris-Roubaix win.

With the win in Hamburg at HEW Cyclassics, with a very long sprint, Museeuw take a good margin on Bettini but the italian was very regular and with three top-ten finishes in the summer races (second in Zurich) took the lead by only two points.

The Giro di Lombardia was too hard for Museeuw who didn't start the race giving the World Cup win to Bettini who finish low in the race.

Michele Bartoli won the race and clinched the final spot in the World Cup podium along the winner Bettini and Museeuw, who take the fifth and final World Cup podium, a record for the competition.

In the general classification table the jersey identify the leader after the race.