In light of the major reform of professional cycling that is set to be introduced gradually from 2015 to 2020, it has been proposed to shorten the Vuelta a Espana and the Giro d'Italia to just two weeks. Yesterday Vuelta race director Javier Guillen acknowledged the debate and refused to rule out in future amendments to the race format.

The UCI is planning a major reform of professional cycling and its calendar, with the new structure set to be introduced gradually from 2015 to 2020. While the international federation hasn't officially unveiled any details, several proposals have been debated, among them the idea of shortening the grand tours to just two weeks.

On a press conference held yesterday in Alcobendas, Vuelta a Espana race director Javier Guillen was asked to give his view on the idea of a shortened Spanish grand tour. While everybody acknowledges that the Tour de France is untouchable, it has been proposed to shorten both the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta in an attempt to make the races less demanding and so more attractive to cycling's major stars.

By asking "In exchange for what?", Guillen made it clear that he won't accept the changes if his race in unlikely to benefit from the modifications but he refused to rule out the idea.

"It's a debate that will surely come," he said according to Marca.

While the idea of shortened grand tours is not a new one, it has been debated several times. In the leaked document that details the proposed reform and which was published by cicloweb.it a few weeks ago, the grand tours were, however, set to maintain their three-week format. However, that proposal was more far from being a definitive one and several modifications may be made during future discussions.

The reform is likely to introduce a first and a second division, consisting of 16 and 8 teams respectively. The first division teams are obliged to compete in all races on a select calendar including all the grand tours, the major classics and several one-week races. The second division teams will have their own calendar, including races like the Vuelta al Pais Vasco, the Tour de Romandie and the Volta a Catalunya, but may receive invitations to the biggest races on the calendar. Based on the results in the first and second division races respectively, a system of automatic promotion and relegation will be introduced.

You can find a detailed description of the proposed reform here.