The news on twitter is that we are racing the normal Cauberg and that they are building a bridge to let athletes cross eachother near Vilt.

that is not fun at all - dimount and go up steep ramp - never fan of that

I did a second reconnaissance with my buddy yesterday. Here is the Strava link: https://www.strava.com/activities/349434507

We started about 6k into the bike loop near Bunde. After 84 km we left the Bike course and did the bike loop. The last 6 km's are the first ones of the lap. The changes in the first part of the lap are an improvement. Some wider roads, less turns. The changed parts near Valkenburg are different, but also have some narrow roads and technical descents in them (as before). The classic Cauberg is still in. I also noticed some familiar parts from the Duathlon Valkenburg which does not exist anymore. If it is an improvement depends on how they build the bridge; It should be in the part near Vilt where we did a part twice in the same direction. A local newspaper said the bridge would be 50 meters long, so probably no dismounting.

Strava gives about 550 height meters. There is also a small climb in the run, so maybe 500 hm on the bikecourse?

I rode the lap yesterday on the timetrial bike. This was o.k. The timetrial bike is definitely faster then your normal roadbike because of the flat first part of the lap and the plateaus in the hilly part. But be sure you can handle your timetrial bike in the technical descents. My smallest gear was 42x25 and I managed with that quite good (I rode 5:00:49 in IM Sweden (totally flat) last year). The steep hills can really kill your legs for the run, so please bring the appropriate gears for your level. Aerowheels will be faster then light wheels. Although getting up to speed out of the corners and maintaining speed on the hills will be easier if your wheels are not too heavy.

thanks for that ...

also seeing temp int eh river went below 22 C

On the website of the town Valkenburg there are some detailed maps of local sections of the bike course. Looks like there is a crossing near Vilt.

as i understand we will not be able to swim in the river until race warmup

any suggestions for a good pool?

3km from expo there is this pool
http://www.geusseltbad.nl/algemeen/home

open everyday 10am-6pm
single entrance 5.20 euros