The race concluded in Florence with a 53 km (32.9 mi) individual time trial on 11 June.

[13] La Liberté named the following contenders: Hampsten, Greg LeMond, Luis Herrera, Erik Breukink, Laurent Fignon, Phil Anderson, Urs Zimmermann, and Claude Criquielion.

[11] Former winner Stephen Roche returned to the Giro following a year absence and recently visited a doctor in Munich to treat one of his knees.

[13] Roche was anticipated to receive a poor welcome due to how he won the Giro in 1987 by taking the lead from Italian and teammate Roberto Visentini.

[11] Reigning champion Hampsten entered the Giro after showing good forming in the early calendar races.

[11] In addition, Hampsten had been specifically training for the individual time trial in his home in Boulder, Colorado in the weeks preceding the race's start.

[13] Fignon, a two-time winner of the Tour de France, entered the Giro for the first time since his controversial loss to Francesco Moser in 1984.

[8] In the years after his first Tour victory in 1984, Fignon's seasons were plagued by poor performances due to a variety of injuries.

[8] Fignon's teammates were regarded as a weak point for his title hopes as they were felt to be weaker than his previous teams in the early 1980s.

[15] Limburgsch dagblad felt the race attracted most top tier riders to participate except for Pedro Delgado, Charly Mottet, and Steven Rooks, among others.

[15] Luis Gómez of El País felt the main novelty of the race was the presence of the Alfa Lum team rostered with Soviet riders, including the likes of 23-year old Dimitri Konyshev whom they hoped would finish high overall.

[16] The route for the 1989 edition of the Giro d'Italia was revealed to the public on television by head organizer Vincenzo Torriani, on 21 January 1989.

The intergiro classification was introduced as a means of making the race more interesting and its leader was denoted by a blue jersey.