Mario Cipollini won the event's first leg in a bunch sprint, allowing him to be the first rider to don the race leader's maglia rosa (English: pink jersey).

[6] The average age of riders was 27.76 years,[7] ranging from 19–year–old Sandro Giacomelli (Amore & Vita–Galatron) to 35–year–old Giancarlo Perini (Brescialat–Fago).

[3][11] Berzin's team, Gewiss–Ballan, also brought Latvian Piotr Ugrumov, a two-time Grand Tour runner-up.

[12][13] Author Bill McGann believed that Rominger and Berzin were in great form coming into the race.

[10] Specifically, Rominger returned to the Giro after a six-year absence and, more recently, coming off of a victory at the Tour de Romandie.

[13] Aside from Rominger and Berzin, El Punt's Luis Simon named 1988 winner Andrew Hampsten, Russian Pavel Tonkov, and Claudio Chiappucci amongst several other riders that could challenge for the overall title.

[3][10] Two-time winner Miguel Induráin chose not to enter the race in favor of preparing for the Tour de France.

[13] Twelve of the UCI Road World Cup top 20 ranked cyclists did not compete in the Giro d'Italia.

[13] The route for the 1995 Giro d'Italia was unveiled by race director Carmine Castellano on 12 November 1994 in Milan.

[24] The race route began in Perugia and traveled throughout the southern half of Italy for the first ten stages.

[16] After the stage 10 individual time trial, the riders were transferred to Tuscany by airplane, where the race remained in the northern half of the country and proceeded to cross into the higher and tougher mountains.

[26] In addition, the writer mentioned that the increase in mountains within the route coupled with the reduced number of time trial kilometers, including the lack of a prologue, favored Marco Pantani.

[26] Three-time winner Gino Bartali believed that the route for the Giro was harder than the same year's Tour de France course.

[33] Cipollini lost the lead to Tony Rominger following the stage 2 individual time trial that was contested in rainy conditions.

[34] Rominger was able to gain almost a minute on each of the main general classification contenders including Piotr Ugrumov and Evgeni Berzin.

[10] On the race's final incline, Rominger attacked but his move was marked by several general classification contenders.

[43] With four kilometers left in the stage, Ugrumov and Berzin attempted to crack Rominger by attacking him repeatedly.

[44] As the riders approached the finish, Pascal Richard edged Oliverio Rincón for the stage victory.

[44] The following stage featured a summit finish to Val Senales after a twenty kilometer climb.

[10][45] Ugrumov attacked shortly after and Rominger was only able to follow initially; however, Berzin was able to merge back with the two riders and the trio then rode to the finish together.

[10][45] Mariano Piccoli won the fifteenth leg after being a part of the day's breakaway that managed to survive until the finish.

[32] The stage was initially won by Giovanni Lombardi, but he was deemed by race judges to have had an irregular sprint and the victory was awarded to the second placed rider Giuseppe Citterio.

[46] Rominger extended his advantage over all his competitors by winning the stage by a margin of one minute and thirty-nine seconds over Berzin.

[24] The day's breakaway consisted of sixteen riders, which Tony Rominger's Mapei team chose not to chase down.

[27] While racing, the finish line of the stage was moved to Pontechinale, a location that was part way up the climb of the Col Agnel because several avalanches occurred near the summit and prevented the riders from passing.

Berzin rode solo to win the stage and managed to gain twenty-five seconds on Ugrumov and Rominger.

[66] The Cima Coppi for this Giro was the Col Agnel, but it was not climbed due to avalanches that prevented the riders from being able to pass on the roads.