Javier Guillen, director of the Vuelta a Espana, has confirmed to El Pais that he has been in dialogue with Chris Froome about the course for the 2015 edition of the Spanish race but says that the race will keep its identity with “explosive uphill finales and finishes on new climbs.”

Chris Froome was quick to complain about the course for the Tour de France which has just 14km of time trialling on the first day, and indicated that he would prefer the double of the Giro d’Italia with its 60km time trial and the Vuelta a Espana.

Now Team Sky seem to have persuaded Froome to try to repeat his 2013 victory in the Tour de France after he abandoned this year’s race. Furthermore, L’Equipe reported yesterday that the bad weather in Italy in May was not advisable for Froome who suffers from allergies and asthma at that time of the year. The Tour-Vuelta double is seen as a better option in case the Brit decides to do two grand tours.

Froome was again second in the 2014 Vuelta behind Alberto Contador after he had finished second in 2011 behind Juan Jose Cobo. In 2012, he was fourth.

“Thank you, Javier but couldn’t the time trials in the Vuelta be a bit flatter?” Froome asked Guillen in Ancares after stage 20 of this year’s race, according to El Pais. “And then I said,” Guillen recalls, “next year, in the 2015 edition, the time trial will take place in a flat region. And that’s where our conversation started…”

“Then I said,” Guillen added, “that the time trial will follow the usual standard of our recent races. It will be around 40km long and will be in flat terrain or on false flats.”

The Vuelta director recognizes that the presence of Froome in the 2015 Vuelta would be great news.

“With Alejandro Valverde and Nairo Quintana and the rest. Astana have not yet decided whether Nibali will do the Giro. To have Froome would be great,” Guillen says. “But that does not mean that we will make a Vuelta that suits him. The 2015 Vuelta [which starts in Marbella on August 22] will be like in the last three years with explosive finales and new summit finishes. And Froome has not told me that he will come.”

In 2015, the Vuelta a Espana will start with a time trial in Puerto Banus near Marbell and the official route presentation will take place on January 10 in Torremolinos.

The Tour of Spain has confirmed the start of the 2015 edition in Puerto Banus (Marbella, Málaga), with a time trial, and the official launch will be on January 10 in Torremolinos.