The race was won by Fausto Coppi of the Bianchi team, with fellow Italians Gino Bartali and Giordano Cottur coming in second and third respectively.

[10] Vito Ortelli, who placed fourth the year prior did not participate as he was suffering from an illness and stayed home.

[10] Camoriano added that Bartali would likely not let that happen as he was known to find strength and referenced previous Tours de France.

[10][14][15][16][17][18] The Sicilian government offered race organizers ten million lire to host the start of the Giro.

[19] Prior to the start of the race, bandit Salvatore Giuliano who had been on the run near Sicily's Montelepre was being searched for by police as the area was in a state of emergency for several weeks.

[19] It was rumored that Giuliano threatened to line the race route in the mountains and shoot at the participants with machine guns if the police did not call off their search for him.

[23] A white jersey was awarded to the rider from a non-major "industrial" team with the lowest total time.

[25] Specifically the eight sprints were located in the following places Taormina, Castrovillari, Terni, Ferrara, Trieste, Verona, Chiavari, and Novara, respectively.