Alejandro Valverde was absent from today's presentation of the route for the 2014 edition of the Tour de France but the Spaniard liked what he heard from the ceremony. Despite having a preference for the French grand tour, the Spaniard has not decided whether he will ride the Giro or the Tour.

Alejandro Valverde probably rode his best Tour de France ever this summer but bad luck ruined his podium hopes when he suffered an untimely mechanical in the crosswinds on stage 13. He still managed to finish 8th and is now eager to go back to France to get his revenge.

Being in Japan for the Saitama criterium, Valverde wasn't present at today's presentation of the route but the Spaniard was happy with the layout of the race. With stages in three different mountain ranges and only one individual time trial on the penultimate day, the race appears to be one for the climbers and so potentially one for Valverde.

“I couldn’t examine the route deeply since I’m in Japan but it seems like a route that suits me well," he said. "Not only because it has just one time trial and it is on the penultimate day. Though it will be flat, the last TT always relies on how much energy is left on your tank at the end of the Tour."

The route has mostly been described as a balanced one that offers mountains, time trials and a stage on the feared cobbles known from the Paris-Roubaix. Valverde underlined  the fact that it will be a daily battle to win the race.

"Otherwise, it seems like a balanced route," he said. The depart from England is good for me, I guess - good luck will be crucial on the cobbles, with all sorts of punctures and crashes bound to happen. We know almost everything on the Alps and the Pyrenees and there will be little room for surprise, but the Tour is more than that - we know it’s decided day by day, any stage can turn into a decisive one."

Valverde has earlier indicated that he may make his first appearance in the Giro next year as the team may decide to focus on Nairo Quintana in the Tour. The Spaniard pointed out that nothing has been decided yet but that the team will sit down and distribute the grand tours among their two captains.

There’s nothing decided yet on my race schedule - we’ll see if I ride the Giro or the Tour," he said. "I like the Tour best, but we have to see what’s more adequate for the team’s needs and make a choice based on that."

Valverde has won 3 stages in the Tour and finished 6th in 2007.