Considered one of the most versatile riders of his generation, Bartoli won a variety of classics. He won most of the major Italian one-day races – apart from Milan–San Remo – and was Italian national champion in 2000. In Belgium, he excelled in both the cobbled classics of Flanders and the hilly races in the Ardennes, which earned him the nickname "Il Leoncino delle Fiandre" ("The Little Lion of Flanders"). In addition to the classics, Bartoli has also won stage races, such as Tirreno–Adriatico and the Three Days of De Panne, and won two stages in the Giro d'Italia. He finished third in the world championships of 1996 and 1998.