The route of the Vuelta will be announced on January 12 and race director Javier Guillén recently assured that it will not be a race designed only for Chris Froome. The Briton, who won the Tour de France for the third time in 2016, finished second in the Vuelta for the third time, beaten by Nairo Quintana.

While Mikel Landa recently revealed that he will lead Sky at the Giro, Chris Froome should stick to the schedule of recent years. He will focus on the Tour and plans to do the Vuelta on the back of the French race. He will, however, have to save some energy because the organizers will not do him any favors. 

"The course will not be made for Chris Froome, we would never do that,” Guillén told Cycling Weekly.  “I don’t have a signed paper that Chris Froome will come or that he’ll come in best shape. That’s not how it works, we build it thinking about the fans, about the profile we want to build and our personality."

The leader of Team Sky is not the only rider expected in the line-up by the race director who hopes to have an impressive field in 2017. However, Guillén likes to think that the British star got his breakthrough at the Vuelta during his fantastic battle with Juan José Cobo in 2011, a battle in which he was eventually beaten in Madrid by a few seconds. 

“We don’t only want Chris on the start line, but other stars there with him. We don’t prepare a race for a specific rider. It’s very important that Froome rides because fans want to see the best riders of the peloton. They maybe can’t be at their best but we need them,” Guillén said. “I get the feeling that the Vuelta owes a victory to Chris, but this is something he has to gain on the road!”