Each team sent a squad of ten riders, so the Giro began with a peloton of 140 cyclists.

[5] The teams entering the race were: The starting peloton did include the 1976 winner, Felice Gimondi.

Freddy Maertens, Gianbattista Baronchelli, and Gimondi were seen by many news outlets to be the favorites to win the race.

[11] There were four main individual classifications contested in the 1977 Giro d'Italia, as well as a team competition.

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.

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

[15] The Fiat Ritmo classification, which was created in honor Juan Manuel Santisteban who died in stage 1A of 1976 edition.