Berzin first gained the race lead after the fourth stage where he attacked on the final climb to win the day.

However, Leoni lost the lead later that day during the afternoon individual time trial to Armand de Las Cuevas.

After gaining the lead, Berzin began to build upon his advantage after winning the stage 8 and 18 individual time trials and maintaining good form throughout the mountains.

[3] The average age of riders was 27.95 years,[4] ranging from 21–year–old Heinrich Trumheller (Castorama) to 36–year–old Bruno Leali (Brescialat–Ceramiche Refin).

[10] El País writer Carlos Arribas felt that Evgeni Berzin had a strong spring with his victory in Liège–Bastogne–Liège and second-place finish in the Tour of the Basque Country.

[10] Arribas felt that Russian Pavel Tonkov, who had won the young rider classification the previous two years, would challenge for the victory as his normal team leader, Maurizio Fondriest, was absent from the race due to injury.

[10][11][12] Avui's Adrian R. Huber believed that Djamolidine Abdoujaparov, Adriano Baffi, and Fabio Baldato had a great chance to win a stage in the race.

[13] Notable sprinter Mario Cipollini did not participate in the race as he was still recovering from injuries sustained in the second stage at the Vuelta a España.

[13] The route for the 1994 Giro d'Italia was unveiled by race director Carmine Castellano on 13 November 13, 1993, in Milan.

[8][27] Italian Endrio Leoni won the morning stage by means of a sprint finish where the speeds were so high the peloton split in the final kilometer.

[8][27] Armand de Las Cuevas won the afternoon time trial by two seconds over Evgeni Berzin and in the process took the overall lead away from Leoni.

[8] Moreno Argentin attacked close to the line and was able to distance himself from the rest of the peloton and win the stage, while also taking the lead of the race.

[8][28] Gianni Bugno failed several times to get away from the peloton before finally breaking free on the climb into Loreto Amprutino to win the third stage.

[8][29] Stage 4 featured the race's first summit finish, with a final climb to the top of Campitello Matese.

[8][34] The race leader Evgeni Berzin dominated the time trial as he won the stage by over a minute than the second-place finisher, which also allowed him to extend his lead in the general classification.

[8][34] The next three stages of the race were all primarily flat, had no real impact on the overall standings, and all concluded with a bunch sprint.

[8][40] He attacked, bridged the gap to the leading group, and left them behind to claim his first professional victory of his career.

[8][40] The next stage saw Pantani win again after he rode away from the attack group on the last climb of the Valico di Santa Cristina and he then soloed to the finish in Aprica.

[43] The Giro's eighteenth stage was a 35 km (22 mi) individual time trial that stretched from Chiavari to the summit finish on the Passo del Bocco.

[8][46] The lead group up Les Deux Alpes contained the likes of Evgeni Berzin, Marco Pantani, and Miguel Induráin who had attacked each other multiple times but to no avail.

[8][46] The trio was later joined by Vladimir Poulnikov and Nelson Rodríguez who both eventually left them to go on for the stage win.

[8][49] Team doctor Michele Ferrari was banned for life from sports in 2012 by United States Anti-Doping Agency for distribution of performance-enhancing drugs to several of his clients.