The Giro started in Apeldoorn on 6 May with a 9.8 km (6 mi) individual time trial, followed by two other stages in the Netherlands, both between Nijmegen and Arnhem.

[1] The overall winner was Italian rider Vincenzo Nibali of team Astana, who won his second Giro.

[5] UCI WorldTeams UCI Professional Continental teams Pre-race favorites were Vincenzo Nibali, Mikel Landa, Alejandro Valverde, Ilnur Zakarin, Rigoberto Urán, Rafał Majka, Tom Dumoulin, Domenico Pozzovivo, Jakob Fuglsang.

It was confirmed that the Netherlands would hold its third Grande Partenza (Big Start) of the Giro, having previously hosted the opening stages of the 2002 and 2010 editions.

The route generally takes the riders north, frequently visiting the Apennines, with stages in the mountains of Friuli and the Dolomites coming later in the race.

[12] The ninth stage is expected to be one of the most important for deciding the overall winner of the race: it is a 40.4-kilometre (25.1 mi) individual time trial through the Chianti region.

But a stomach bug left him eighth on the stage, and instead, home rider Tom Dumoulin powered through to win.

Kittel was dropped on the same ascent and, together with Dumoulin's finish in second place, meant that the Dutchman regained the Maglia Rosa.

Amongst the GC contenders, Dumoulin gained approximately ten seconds over his rivals, and secured himself in the Maglia Rosa.

Dumoulin was dropped, and lost a minute to the other favourites while Brambilla's advantage was sufficient to give him the pink jersey, the first Italian to wear it during the 2016 Giro.

Bob Jungels moved behind Brambilla, but failed to take the jersey, thanks to a one-second difference.

Dumoulin, suffering from saddle sores, departed the Giro at the stage's feed zone while Amador attacked the favourites with 13 kilometers to go.

The trio worked together to stay away with Ulissi winning the stage in the sprint while Jungels extended his lead further.

Stage 13 was won by Mikel Nieve of Team Sky while Jungels was dropped on the final ascent.

Amador was also dropped briefly on the climb before coming back on the descent, taking the maglia rosa in the process as Jungels lost 50 seconds.

Esteban Chaves took the stage honors after outsprinting Steven Kruijswijk, who took the maglia rosa, and Georg Preidler.

Stage 15 was the third individual time trial of the race, featuring the ascent to Alpe di Siusi.

Alexander Foliforov surprised the GC favorites to win the stage, narrowly beating Kruijswijk by around a hundredth of a second.

Kruijswijk extended his lead in the general classification to three minutes as Chaves lost 42 seconds while Nibali cracked on the last climb.

Stage 19 was the first to head into the high mountains, featuring the Cima Coppi, the Colle Dell'Agnello, and the summit finish to Risoul in France.

Michele Scarponi took the Cima Coppi while Valverde, Ilnur Zakarin and Rafał Majka were dropped.

Chaves took the maglia rosa with a 44-second advantage over Nibali as Kruijswijk, who would later be diagnosed with a fractured rib, fell to third overall at a minute and five seconds behinds.

Nibali attack started 4 km to the summit of Lombarda, and reached the GPM 56 seconds ahead of Chaves.

In the last 10 kilometers its progression was irresistible reaching the end of the stage at Sanctuary of Sant’Anna with 1’36" on Chaves, becoming the new and last maglia rosa of the giro d'Italia number 99.

The rider with the lowest cumulative time is awarded the pink jersey (the maglia rosa) and is considered the winner of the Giro d'Italia.

Another classification – the combativity prize (Italian: Premio Combattività) – involves points awarded to the first riders at the stage finishes, at intermediate sprints, and at the summits of categorised climbs.