Five months ago Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) was hailed as the conqueror of a Giro d’Italia which saw many stages cut short because of horrible weather conditions and one stage cancelled all together.

Even though an Italian winner of La Corsa Rosa is normally expected to defend his title the following year, Nibali might still skip the 2014 edition in order to concentrate on challenging for the Tour de France, but nonetheless he was present when the 2014 Giro route was announced in Milan earlier today. Commenting on the parcours, Nibali praised it for its balanced composition and he specifically, though hardly surprisingly, pointed to the Barolo time trial on stage 12 and the string of mountain stages in the final week as decisive.

“I think the 46km time trial could be very significant from a tactical point of view. It doesn’t look very hard but it climbs at the end, and it comes just before the tough final eight days,” Nibali said according to Gazzetta dello Sport. “The first stages in Ireland could be tough, too, as it looks like it’s all along the coast and it could be windy. The winner will be someone capable on all terrains. You’ll definitely need to be complete if you have any ambitions of winning the race. The final week will be the key.”

Nibali will probably await the October 23 announcement of the Tour de France route before making up his mind about whether to defend his Giro win or go for La Grande Boucle.