[6] A total of thirteen teams were invited to participate in the 1980 Giro d'Italia.

[7][8] Each team sent a squad of ten riders, which meant that the race started with a peloton of 130 cyclists.

[9][10][11] The teams entering the race were:[7][8] The route for the 1980 edition of the Giro d'Italia was revealed to the public by head organizer Vincenzo Torriani on 31 January 1980.

[12][13][14] Covering a total of 4,025 km (2,501 mi), it included three individual time trials, and ten stages with categorized climbs that awarded mountains classification points.

The leader of the general classification – calculated by adding the stage finish times of each rider, and allowing time bonuses for the first three finishers on mass-start stages – wore a pink jersey.

In this ranking, points were won by reaching the summit of a climb ahead of other cyclists.