[6][7] Juan Del Bosque of El Mundo Deportivo stated that with the easy route, it won't make Merckx exert much effort to win for a fourth time.

[7] Merckx was believed to have a very strong team supporting him at the race, including the likes of Roger Swerts, Victor Van Schil, and Jos Deschoenmaecker, among others.

[3] Albani elaborated that the Spaniards José Manuel Fuente, Francisco Galdós, and Santiago Lazcano were all dangerous riders in the mountains, but not threats for the overall crown.

[3] One writer found Roger De Vlaeminck (Brooklyn) to be a dark horse for the general classification,[3] while another source felt he would be Merckx's biggest threat.

[18] Former winner Gianni Motta (Zonca) also competed in the race and was viewed as a capable rider, but noted that his performances were irregular and his season had been lackluster up to that point.

"[5] Italo Zilioli (Dreher), Franco Bitossi (Sammontana), and Michele Dancelli (Scic) were other Italian riders that had chances to place high in the general classification.

[5][3][18] Van Linden and Sercu had beaten the reigning world champion Basso several times during the season so far and one writer stated that he "will have a lot to do if he wants to be worthy of his rainbow jersey.

"[5] French filmmaker Claude Lelouch announced he would be making a film that centered around Merckx, which would incorporate footage from the Vuelta a España earlier in the year, along with this Giro d'Italia.

[6] The route was announced to be 3,777 km (2,347 mi) over the course of twenty stages that included one individual time trial, while it began with a prologue around Verviers, Wallonia.

The route was announced to start in Verviers, before heading towards Italy, passing through The Netherlands, West Germany, Luxembourg, France, and Switzerland.

"[6] It was reported that roughly 50 million liras were paid to the Giro d'Italia from Verviers, Cologne, and the European Economic Community.

[21] It was believed to be that the reason for the avoidance of Milan and other larger cities in the 1973 route came from their large unruly crowds and recent social unrest.

[6] With the announcement of the route that traveled through so many European nations, Sala speculated that Tour de France organizer Félix Lévitan would try to one-up the Giro for their 1974 race.

[6] Squibbs felt the route was well balanced and intelligently designed and thought the harder portions reserved for the very end would make the race garner more interest.