The 2008 Giro d'Italia began on 10 May, with Stage 11 occurring on 21 May. The first stage, like it had been in 2007, was a team time trial, a stage where each member of the team raced together against the clock. This stage was won by the American team , who had viewed it as their primary goal in the Giro. It allowed their leader Christian Vande Velde to wear the first pink jersey as race leader. Unlike in most cycling Grand Tours, the first road race stage 2008 Giro was not a flat stage decided by sprinters, but rather one over a hilly course that would be won by a breakaway or a strong climber. Though Stages 3 and 4 were both flat and conquered by sprinters, this meant that it was unlikely that a sprinter would get to wear the pink jersey at any point in the race.
The first half of the 2008 Giro contained six stages classified as medium-mountain, though many of them contained difficult, selective climbs that broke up the racing peloton. The sixth stage was shortened from its planned length of . This was due to riders speaking with race officials and asking that the finishing circuit be eliminated, as the long transfers between stage finish towns and start towns the next day had afforded them little rest to prepare for such a long stage. In that same stage, a 12-rider breakaway finished sufficiently ahead of the peloton that one of its members, Giovanni Visconti, became the new overall race leader, a lead that he would maintain for more than a week.
s.t. indicates that the rider crossed the finish line in the same group as the one receiving the time above him, and was therefore credited with the same finishing time.
Stage 1 10 May 2008 — Palermo, (team time trial)
The Giro began, like it had the previous year, with a team time trial (TTT) on one of Italy's islands, this year in Sicily. The course was flat. There was speculation that this stage would result in a second American cyclist to wear the pink jersey (the first having been Andrew Hampsten in 1988), as , , and were all considered favorites to win the stage and all had strong American time trialists on their squads. , one of the first Professional Continental teams announced for the race, held a special training camp in Spain a week before the race specifically to work on their TTT skills.
The early time to beat was set by the second team to take the course, , clocking in at 27' 05". After three other teams came , who finished with only the minimum of five riders together (the team's time is taken for the fifth rider to cross the finish line, with any riders who are dropped given their own times) after David Millar was dropped in the final kilometer. Christian Vande Velde was the first to cross the line for , after 26' 32". That Vande Velde had been the first over the line rather than time trial specialist David Zabriskie had not been specifically the plan. The next team on course was , who were nine seconds slower than at the first time check and finished in 27' 01". and were both ahead of at the first intermediate time check, but faded toward the finish and clocked in second and fifth, respectively. 's time held up to the end of the stage, affording Vande Velde the first pink jersey.
Stage 1 result TeamTime1 26' 32" 2 + 6"3 + 7"4 + 9"5 + 14"6 + 28"7 + 29"8 + 33"9 + 42"10 + 45"General classification after stage 1 RiderTeamTime 1 26' 32" 2 + 0" 3 + 0" 4 + 0" 5 + 0" 6 + 6" 7 + 6" 8 + 6" 9 + 6" 10 + 6"
Stage 2 11 May 2008 — Cefalù to Agrigento,
This was a hilly course, in contrast to most Grand Tours, which begin with flat road stages. It contained two categorized climbs, and favored an attacking rider.
The significant breakaway of the day comprised David Loosli and Jérémy Roy, after Dionisio Galparsoro had been brought back into the peloton after an earlier attack. Loosli and Roy attained a maximum advantage of over ten minutes. With remaining in the stage for the peloton, a significant crash occurred as they went over a railroad crossing. David Zabriskie was the most seriously hurt, needing to be taken away from the race in an ambulance.
Loosli and Roy were caught with left to race, as the finishing circuit in Agrigento began. had been at the head of the peloton, protecting race leader Christian Vande Velde, for as long as they could, and during the circuit took over the pace-making. The hilly and difficult circuit made it so many riders lost contact with the leading group, until only a small number of climbers and overall favorites were with the leaders. Joaquim Rodríguez was the first of this group to attack for the stage win, but he was caught in the final few hundred meters by a quintet of Italians, Riccardo Riccò, Danilo Di Luca, Davide Rebellin, Franco Pellizotti, and Paolo Savoldelli. Riccò was the first across the line for the stage win, while Pellizotti's ten second time gap over Vande Velde in 19th gave him the pink jersey.
Stage 2 result RiderTeamTime1 5h 48' 35" 2 s.t.3 s.t.4 s.t.5 s.t.6 s.t.7 + 4"8 + 8"9 + 8"10 + 10"General classification after stage 2 RiderTeamTime 1 6h 15' 16" 2 + 1" 3 + 7" 4 + 7" 5 + 8" 6 + 8" 7 + 17" 8 + 17" 9 + 18" 10 + 19"
Stage 3 12 May 2008 — Catania to Milazzo,
This was the first flat stage of the 2008 Giro. The course began by riding around the perimeter of Mount Etna for a categorized climb, but the final on the seaside of Milazzo were all on elevations of less than , and a sprint finish was the result.
The first attempt at a breakaway in this stage did not occur until the mark, as the Mount Etna climb kept the peloton together. At that point, Riccardo Chiarini, Mickaël Buffaz, Jérémy Roy, Kevin Seeldraeyers, Matej Jurčo, and Pavel Brutt broke free and attained a maximum advantage of four minutes. The peloton was careful not to let the time gap get out of hand, and for much of the stage it was only two minutes. A massive crash occurred at the to go mark, when a rider struck a manhole cover and lost control of his bike, colliding with other riders and sending riders and bikes flying. Rain began to fall shortly thereafter, with further crashes claiming victims including Mark Cavendish, Kanstantsin Sivtsov, and the previous day's stage winner Riccardo Riccò.
The breakaway was caught with left to race, after which even more crashes occurred. Bradley McGee was taken from the race in an ambulance with a broken collarbone, and though his teammate Stuart O'Grady finished the stage after crashing, it was later learned that he too had broken his collarbone.
The succession of crashes did not stop a mass sprint finish, through what was ironically thought the most dangerous part of the course before the stage began. ' Daniele Bennati outmaneuvered Erik Zabel and Danilo Hondo at the finish to claim the stage win and the points jersey. Liquigas also retained the overall race lead with Franco Pellizotti, as well as first in the teams classification. It was Bennati's first career Giro stage win after having previously won stages in the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España.
Stage 3 result RiderTeamTime1 5h 37' 01"2 s.t.3 s.t.4 s.t.5 s.t.6 s.t.7 s.t.8 s.t.9 s.t.10 s.t.General classification after stage 3 RiderTeamTime 1 11h 52' 17" 2 + 1" 3 + 7" 4 + 8" 5 + 8" 6 + 17" 7 + 18" 8 + 19" 9 + 22" 10 + 25"
Stage 4 13 May 2008 — Pizzo Calabro to Catanzaro-Lungomare,
In this stage, the Giro left Sicily for Italy's mainland. The course for this stage was similar in profile to the one previous, with a high climb coming in the first third of the course before sufficient flat racing to ensure a mass sprint finish.
This stage was marked by a long one-man breakaway by rider Rik Verbrugghe. He attained an advantage of eleven minutes over the peloton at one point, but he stood little chance of staying away on a course well-suited for a bunch finish. He was caught with left to race, as , , and worked to get the field together, in preparation for a finish for their strong sprinters. Milram led Erik Zabel out early, but the veteran German was unable to hold on all the way to the finish line. Points classification leader Daniele Bennati was next to try, but he too went too soon and was passed for the win by High Road's Mark Cavendish, who picked up his first career Grand Tour stage win. A crash in the final kilometer, as the sprint was just beginning, brought down Nick Nuyens and two riders, with Nuyens breaking his collarbone and leaving the race in an ambulance.
Stage 4 result RiderTeamTime1 4h 49' 09"2 s.t.3 s.t.4 s.t.5 s.t.6 s.t.7 s.t.8 s.t.9 s.t.10 s.t.General classification after stage 4 RiderTeamTime 1 16h 41' 26" 2 + 1" 3 + 7" 4 + 8" 5 + 8" 6 + 17" 7 + 18" 8 + 19" 9 + 22" 10 + 24"
Stage 5 14 May 2008 — Belvedere Marittimo to Contursi Terme,
This was the first of four medium-mountain stages. One pre-race analysis suggested that the course's rolling profile suited a breakaway surviving to the finish line.
It took several attempts for a successful breakaway to come clear, but by the mark, Luis Felipe Laverde, Johannes Fröhlinger, David Millar, Pavel Brutt, and Francisco Pérez were away. Pérez had begun the stage 1'57" behind race leader Franco Pellizotti, and as such he was the virtual race leader for much of the stage, as the breakaway held a maximum advantage over the peloton of 7'20" with left to race. The time gap to the leaders steadily fell from that point, such that Pellizotti's lead did not prove to be in any real danger.
With a final long, uncategorized hill remaining in the stage, the fast-closing pink jersey group, 64 riders strong and containing the race's overall favorites, trailed the five leaders by 1'42". This would prove to be just enough time for the breakaway to be able to decide the stage among themselves. Just as they passed under the red kite indicating to the finish line, and just as Brutt seemed to start his attack for the stage win, the chain on Millar's bicycle snapped, halting the Scot and destroying any chance at a victory for him. An enraged Millar threw his bike over the barricade and, needing to wait for his team car for another, finished 119th on the stage, though he would be credited with the same finishing time as Pérez in fourth. Brutt's attack, which had started just as disaster struck Millar, gave him the stage win. His remaining breakaway mates finished scattered behind him, with the pink jersey group, led home by Paolo Bettini, 31 seconds back.
Stage 5 result RiderTeamTime1 5h 04' 52"2 + 4"3 + 10"4 + 25"5 + 31"6 + 31"7 + 31"8 + 31"9 + 31"10 + 31"General classification after stage 5 RiderTeamTime 1 21h 46' 49" 2 + 1" 3 + 7" 4 + 8" 5 + 8" 6 + 17" 7 + 18" 8 + 19" 9 + 22" 10 + 25"
Stage 6 15 May 2008 — Potenza to Peschici,
This stage was originally scheduled to be in length. After representatives from the peloton spoke to race officials, voicing concerns over the long transfers from one day's finish town to the next day's start town affording them little time to rest to prepare for such a demanding stage, the Circuito del Gargano was eliminated.
The resultant course was still quite long, with a bumpy profile that suggested a climber or a sprinter who could climb better than his peers would be the day's winner.
For the first hour, the peloton stayed together, with no breakaway attempts succeeding. On the ascent to and descent from the day's one categorized climb, at the mark, a twelve-rider breakaway formed, from which would come the riders who contested the stage victory. This group comprised Rene Mandri, Alan Pérez, Paul Martens, Nikolay Trusov, Jason McCartney, Magnus Bäckstedt, Daniele Nardello, Giovanni Visconti, Francesco Gavazzi, Matthias Russ, Maxim Iglinsky, and Matteo Priamo. Before the finish, Mandri was felled by a crash, and had to leave the race.