The race came to a close on June 4 with a mass-start stage that ended in the Italian city of Milan.

[2] Francesco Casagrande (Vini Caldirola–Sidermec) was seen as a favorite because of his victory at the 1999 Tour de Suisse; however, a doping suspension, marred the rest of his season.

[2] Paolo Savoldelli was found to be in good form following an overall victory at the Tour de Romandie.

[2] Tim Maloney of CyclingNews stated that Team Polti's Ivan Gotti, who had won the previous year's race following Pantani's disqualification, desired to prove he is a legitimate contender.

[2] He added that the young rider Danilo Di Luca will be competing in his second Giro and he will aim for a stage victory.

[2] Sprinter Mario Cipollini, a favorite to win the stages if they come to a bunch sprint, started the race after battling asthma in the preceding weeks.

[2] Ivan Quaranta (Mobilvetta Design–Rossin) was another rider that was seen as a contender for the sprint stages, along with reigning Italian road race champion Salvatore Commesso (Saeco–Valli & Valli).

[2] This running of the Giro contained three individual time trial events, one of which was the prologue the race began with.

[2] The race began in Rome to celebrate the Great Jubilee, with the opening prologue passing historic sites such as the Colosseum and Imperial Forum.

Other awards included the Bilboa most combative trophy classification, which was a compilation of points gained for position on crossing intermediate sprints, mountain passes and stage finishes.