I also saw this announcement. Someone asked if the new course would be less hilly, but they said it would remain hilly but they would eliminate a lot of the turns from last year.

 
Speaking of Switzerland, does anyone know of a good place to get bike tools and parts in the Zurich area? Or, alternately, a good online parts & tools site in CH?

Santa Monica Sport Shop (http://www.santamonica.ch) is a good tri shop close (1km) to main station Zurich.
Veloplus http://www.veloplus.ch is a big online shop and they have a shop in Wetzikon. Wetzikon is near the km 40/45 on the old bike course.
Transa (http://www.transa.ch) has a bike (and an outdoor) shop in Zurich near main station.
All this websites are in German.

I expect that the new course will leave the lake/old course after km 15 and go directly to km 60

Felix

---

http://www.weilenmann.ch.vu

 
Great info, Felix. Thanks very much!

Hey Felix -

Can I fit my Bike case on the train from the airport to my hotel or do I need to take a cab. I have a Tri All 3 case so its big. Thanks.

[quote]Can I fit my Bike case on the train from the airport to my hotel or do I need to take a cab. I have a Tri All 3 case so its big. Thanks. [/quote]

No problem. There is always space for big bagages, bikes, strollers, wheelchairs on Swiss trains.

The local train (S-Bahn, 2 floor trains) are better because you don't have to go up a stair.

Felix

Thanks Felix.

I will be on holiday the next to weeks. I will answer question about (IM) Switzerland only after Pentecost .
I am looking forward to race a Half-IM in France. But then also to go home and (finally) get my Renn Disc at the post office where it should arrive during my holiday,

Felix, Switzerland

---

http://www.weilenmann.ch.vu

The new bike course is now officially announced. Last Sunday I participated on the 'EWZ Power Bike Day'. This was an official training on the IM Switzerland bike course.
Some Swiss top pros (Christoph Mauch, Karin Thuerig, Ronnie Schildknecht) lead the participants trough the course. I did two loops.
As expected the new bike course leaves the lake in Mannedorf. In Uetikon the longgest and hardest climb starts. V2 is on top of it. In Egg the course rises again until Forch. But this climb is less steep than the previous one. From Zumikon to Zollikon the course leads sometimes trough narrow streets in neighborhood and has a steep (dangerous) downhill.
The heart break hill (Kilchberg) is a short but quite steep hill about 5km before the end of the loop that is lined with spectators.

Felix

---

http://www.weilenmann.ch.vu

Felix -

Is the new course more difficult than the previous course?

I don't know because never rode the old course. The new course climbs 200m more over 180km than the old one.
But they say on the IM Switzerland Forum that it has less corners and could therefore be even faster.

Felix