Chris Froome, to the surprise of many, said that he might not participate in the next year’s Tour de France, instead he will participate in Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a Espana.

After 2015’s Tour de France route was announced, Froome, the leader of Team sky, said on his website that he and his team will consider very carefully before taking part in an event. According to him, he’s a balanced rider himself and this year’s Giro d’Italia featuring a balanced course is suitable for him. He also thinks that there’s a possibility that after he completes Giro, he’ll be able to get back to his peak form and participate in and even win 2015’s Vuelta a Espana.

Froome said that previously he used to play one grand tour every season. But skipping Tour de France might give him an opportunity to concentrate on participating in two events. He also said that even though it’s still early but nevertheless the team has to figure out which competitions they will take part in next year.

2015’s Tour de France, which is also going to be the race’s 102nd edition, is not putting much emphasis on time trials. There is only a 13.7 km long team time trial.

According to Froome, there’s no denying the fact that 2015 Tour de France is all about mountains. He said that very little emphasis is put on time trialling and the winner of the race will be decided on the mountains. He further added that six mountaintop finishes will make the race very physically demanding.

Cobbles are included in the 2015 tour but Froome refused to admit that it is a major hurdle. He regards cobbles to be difficult and stressful to overcome but nevertheless, he finds riding on cobbles to be enjoyable.

Froome said that he didn’t withdraw from the race just because of the cobbles, but because of the crash that happened on the previous stage.