Chris Froome admits he will think carefully about his plans for 2015 after next year’s Tour de France route was unveiled.
Team Sky rider Froome won the 2013 edition of the race, to make it two British winners in a row following Sir Bradley Wiggins' success the previous year – although he pulled out of his defence this time around after crashing twice on stage five.
On Wednesday, Tour de France organisers announced the route for the 2015 race with Froome writing on his website shortly afterwards that he may instead consider riding the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a Espana.
The 2015 Tour de France will include only 14 kilometres of individual time trialling, on stage one around the Dutch city of Utrecht – the smallest amount since the race was relaunched after World War II and the first time in recent years that the race has not included a time trial in the final week.
The 102nd edition of the race, which will run from July 4-26, will also feature four consecutive mountain stages before switching to Paris for the procession along the Champs-Elysees.
And with much of the race set to be decided in the mountains, Froome, who won Olympic time trial bronze at London 2012, conceded May’s Giro D'Italia and the Vuelta a Espana in August and September may be more suitable to his blend of time trialling and climbing skills.
"There's no two ways about it, next year's Tour is going to be about the mountains,” said Froome, who finished second overall in this year's Vuelta a Espana.
“There's very little emphasis on time trialling which means the race will be decided up in the high mountains. With six mountaintop finishes it is going to be an aggressive and massively demanding race.
“The team and I will have to give it some careful consideration before we make any commitments to which of the grand tours I will compete in.
“I see myself as quite a balanced GC (general classification) rider and the Giro with its inclusion of a long TT (time trial) of 60km and tough uphill finishes will make it a well balanced race which suits me well.
“If I did the Giro I may also be able to get myself back to top shape for the Vuelta and go there with a realistic chance of aiming for the win.”
© Sportsbeat 2014