A process for the preparation of a rubber composition for the manufacture of tires is presented. The composition is based on one or more diene elastomers, one or more reinforcing fillers, and a crosslinking system. The composition includes particles of one or more thermoplastic materials chosen from amorphous thermoplastic materials and semicrystalline thermoplastic materials, with the glass transition temperature of the amorphous thermoplastic material or materials and the melting point of the semicrystalline thermoplastic material or materials varying from 80° C. to 300° C. The particles exhibit a volume-average diameter of less than or equal to 200 μm.