The opening day of racing witnessed several crashes due to the poor road conditions and encroachment from cars that resulted in the abandonment of a few riders. The day's breakaway obtained a maximum advantage of two minutes over the "peloton", before being caught with left. Following an unsuccessful solo-attack by Serguei Outschakov, the stage culminated with a bunch sprint taken by 's Silvio Martinello. The riders protested the conditions they were subjected to on the first stage by riding the second stage at a significantly slower pace than usual. The stage ended with a bunch sprint, won by Glenn Magnusson, that was limited in terms of organization for each team because of the narrowness of the roads. The third stage ended in the same fashion, with Giovanni Lombardi winning the day, while the race lead moved to Stefano Zanini because of time bonuses he earned for finishing high in the stage. Several breakaways formed and were caught during the fourth stage, with the final one being caught with under a kilometer remaining. Saeco took control of the "peloton" and successfully conducted a lead out for their sprinter Mario Cipollini who claimed victory. In addition, Martinello regained the race lead and with it, the race leader's "maglia rosa" ().