The 197.15-kilometre (122.50 mi) race started from the Piazza San Magno in Legnano, with five sprint points in the first 35.5 kilometres (22.1 mi) at San Giorgio su Legnano, Nerviano, San Vittore Olona, Cerro Maggiore, and Busto Arsizio. The first of these came after 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) into the race, while the middle three came within a space of 6 kilometres (3.7 mi), starting at the 13-kilometre (8.1 mi) mark. The course then headed north to take on six laps of an approximately 17-kilometre (11 mi) circuit that featured ascents of San Pancrazio and the Piccolo Stelvio. Following this, the course returned to Legnano and finished with three laps of a 5.8-kilometre (3.6 mi) circuit around the town.[3][4]
After previous breakaway attempts were reeled back in by the peloton, six riders attacked to form another breakaway just under 60 kilometres (37 mi) into the race. On the laps of the first circuit, the sextet gradually increased their advantage, which initially stabilised at just over four minutes by the 90-kilometre (56 mi) mark, but their advantage continued to increase as they entered the final 50 kilometres (31 mi). With 31 kilometres (19 mi) left, Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck–Quick-Step) attacked from the lead group. The advantage of the leading six riders was so great that, by the final lap, race organisers forced the peloton to stop and let the sextet pass. Evenepoel continued to increase his lead over the final kilometres and soloed to the victory. With 3.1 kilometres (1.9 mi) left, Alessandro Covi (UAE Team Emirates attacked from the remainder of the breakaway and was immediately chased by Evenepoel's teammate Fausto Masnada; they stayed ahead of the other three, with Covi outsprinting Masnada for second place just under two minutes in arrears. Samuele Battistella (Astana–Premier Tech) and Thibaut Pinot (Groupama–FDJ) finished around 30 seconds later, while stagiaireAntonio Puppio (Team Qhubeka NextHash), the last rider in the breakaway, finished a further thirty seconds later. Just under 11 minutes after Evenepoel had finished, Covi's teammate Juan Sebastián Molano won the sprint for seventh and led in the peloton.[5]