The 1978 Giro d'Italia was the 61st running of the Giro, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It started in Saint-Vincent, on 7 May, with a prologue and concluded in Milan, on 28 May, with a mass-start stage. A total of 130 riders from thirteen teams entered the 20-stage race, that was won by Belgian Johan de Muynck of the Bianchi team. The second and third places were taken by Italians Gianbattista Baronchelli and Francesco Moser, respectively. As of the beginning of the 2021 cycling season this was the last time a Belgian rider won a Grand Tour. Amongst the other classifications that the race awarded, Sanson's Moser won the points classification, Ueli Sutter of Zonca won the mountains classification, and Vibor's Roberto Visentini completed the Giro as the best neo-professional in the general classification, finishing fifteenth overall. Bianchi finishing as the winners of the team points classification. Teams A total of 13 teams were invited to participate in the 1978 Giro d'Italia. Each team sent a squad of ten riders, so the Giro began with a peloton of 130 cyclists. Out of the 130 riders that started this edition of the Giro d'Italia, a total of 90 riders made it to the finish in Milan. The teams entering the race were: Route and stages The route for the race was revealed on 8 March 1978. The start of the race was moved up one week and three stage were cancelled so the race did not interfere with the World Cup that started on 1 June in Argentina. The fourteenth stage took the race into the Venice for a time trial. As the city was not conducive to the event, four ramps were created to allow for riders to ride up and down on canal crossings, as well as one floating bridge over the Grand Canal. Classification leadership There were four main individual classifications contested in the 1978 Giro d'Italia, as well as a team competition. Four of them awarded jerseys to their leaders. The general classification was the most important and was calculated by adding each rider's finishing times on each stage. The rider with the lowest cumulative time was the winner of the general classification and was considered the overall winner of the Giro. The rider leading the classification wore a pink jersey to signify the classification's leadership. The second classification was the points classification. Riders received points for