 Twenty-two teams participated in the 2008 Giro. These included 16 UCI ProTour teams, and six UCI Professional Continental teams. Of the 18 ProTour teams, the two left out were Bouygues Télécom and Crédit Agricole. Two other ProTour teams, Astana and Team High Road, were left off the first list of teams announced by RCS Sport, the organizers of the Giro. This list also included a further Professional Continental team, NGC Medical – OTC Industria Porte, which was later excluded. Astana and Team High Road were both later added, with Astana's invitation coming just six days before the event began.
