[5] The teams entering the race were:[3][6] It was widely believed that the competing field was very international than in years past at the Giro and it contained all the great cycling champions at the moment.

[7][8] Coppi, who had broken his collarbone earlier in the 1951 season during the Milano–Torino,[5] had recently shown his strength as he finished second overall at the Tour de Romandie.

[4] Bobet had placed third at the previous year's Tour de France, entered as the French national road race champion, and had won the Milan–San_Remo earlier that season.

[7][8] Frejus' Ferdinand Kübler, who won the 1950 Tour de France, participated as well with the hopes of winning the general classification.

[5] Nouvelliste Valaisan speculated Kübler would not try to defend his Tour title in order to give the Giro his best effort.

[7] Coppi, Kubler, and Bobet were named among several media outlets to be the top contenders to win the race.

[7][8] The Girardengo team was viewed to be very strong,[5] in part due to the fact the team possessed three riders with a history of winning the world championship men's road race: Marcel Kint (1938), Briek Schotte (1948 & 1950), and Rik Van Steenbergen (1949).

[7] A writer for Nouvelliste Valaisan felt the Giro had begun to open more to international riders, it has drawn the attention of the Tour de France organizers.

[7] The leader of the general classification – calculated by adding the stage finish times of each rider – wore a pink jersey.

The green jersey was given to the best foreign cyclist in the general classification;[4] it was won by Belgian Rik Van Steenbergen.