The second and third places were taken by Belgian Johan De Muynck and Italian Fausto Bertoglio, respectively.

[5] Each team sent a squad of ten riders, which meant that the race started with a peloton of 120 cyclists.

[8][9][10] During the stage 1A on 21 May, Juan Manuel Santisteban crashed and hit his head, ultimately dying from his injuries.

De Muynck took over the lead after winning stage 6 by 0:21 over the main field following a crash which left him alone at the front as a group of eight riders were now tied for 2nd in the overall standings :05 behind.

The general classification was the most important and was calculated by adding each rider's finishing times on each stage.

Most stages of the race included one or more categorized climbs, in which points were awarded to the riders that reached the summit first.

[15] The Cima Coppi for this Giro was the Sella Pass, which was crossed first by Spanish rider Andrés Gandarias during stage 19.

The leader wore a blue jersey with colored vertical stripes ("maglia azzurra con banda tricolore verticale").

[17] New to the race for the 1976 edition was the Fiat 131 classification, which was created in honour of Santisteban, who died during stage 1a.