The route for the 1991 edition of the Giro d'Italia was revealed to the public on television by head organizer Vincenzo Torriani, on 1 December 1990. It contained three time trial events, all of which were individual. There were twelve stages containing thirty-nine categorized climbs, of which five had summit finishes: stage 12, to Monviso; stage 13, to Sestriere; stage 15, to Aprica; stage 16, to Selva di Val Gardena; and stage 17, to Passo Pordoi. The organizers chose to include one rest day, which was used to transfer the riders from Cagliari to Sorrento. When compared to the previous year's race, the race was shorter, contained one more rest day, and the same number of individual time trials and split-stages. The race covered in time trail stages. In addition, this race contained one more stage. The race started on the island of Sardinia for the first time in race history and stayed on the island for three days of racing.