Badly needed upgrades for thousands of road users every day vs 2000 athletes from a niche sport for one day a year.

But IM athletes are so important, aren't we.

I think the local Government have helped out a lot - they've allowed a rerouting of the course to help out. What more do you expect?

The changes do add some climbing though, looking at a German Forum they say it will be near 1900m total (about 6000ft)


Post #72 below
http://www.triathlon-szene.de/forum/showthread.php?t=42344&page=9

There are quite a few options to shorten the course a bit, though, so maybe there will be some changes before the race.