The 1996 Giro d'Italia was the 79th edition of the Giro. It began on May 18 with a mass-start stage that began and ended in the Greek capital Athens. The race came to a close on June 9 with a mass-start stage that ended in the Italian city of Milan. Eighteen teams entered the race that was won by the Russian Pavel Tonkov of the Panaria–Vinavil team. Second and third were the Italian rider Enrico Zaina and Spanish rider Abraham Olano.
Athens hosted the start and finish of the first stage, while the race stayed in Greece for another two days before transferring into Italy.
Pascal Hervé (pictured in 2000) gained enough time during the event's sixth stage to take the race lead, although he lost it following the next stage.
Mario Cipollini (pictured at the 1997 Paris–Nice) won the most stages at the race, with four.
Pavel Tonkov (pictured in 2005) won a single stage en route to his overall victory.
The Giro d'Italia is an annual multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in Italy, while also starting in, or passing through, other countries. The first race was organized in 1909 to increase sales of the newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport, and the race is still run by a subsidiary of that paper's owner. The race has been held annually since its first edition in 1909, except during the two world wars. As the Giro gained prominence and popularity the race was lengthened, and the peloton expanded from primarily Italian participation to riders from all over the world. The Giro is a UCI World Tour event, which means that the teams that compete in the race are mostly UCI WorldTeams, with some additional teams invited as 'wild cards'.
Luigi Ganna, the winner of the inaugural Giro d'Italia
Alfredo Binda, winner of five editions of the Giro in the 1920s and 1930s
Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali
Jacques Anquetil (left) and Felice Gimondi (right, wearing the Maglia Rosa) at the 1967 Giro d'Italia