The race came to a close on 8 June with a mass-start stage that ended in the Italian city of Milan.

[1] Eighteen teams were invited by the race organizers to participate in the 1997 edition of the Giro d'Italia.

[2] Each team sent a squad of ten riders, which meant that the race started with a peloton of 180 cyclists.

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.

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

[10] The Cima Coppi for this Giro was the Pordoi Pass and was first climbed by the Colombian José Jaime González.