I think either will be OK, it depends what kind of TT bike you have. I personally would use road bike with clip-ons, as my TT is more "flat course" built. But if you have light built TT etc., should be fine as well. Surface is good, not 'Austria style' perfect, but much better than e.g. Lanzarote. To give some perspective, course is similar to Ironman Nice bike course. Wide roads for climbs/downhills and not too technically demanding. But total ascent is close to 1.3k meters which makes it somewhat demanding....

Hope you enjoy it, Slovenia is beautiful and small country. For 70.3 they had to take bike course also through Italy so that total distance would be 90k :-)

Thanks for your feedback. This is helpful. I feel comfortable on my TT bike climbing, so will just swap out disc wheel against a lighter wheel. That should do the job...

I am looking forward to the race. Will stay with my family in Izola for a full week. And it is sold out, so there will be a solid crowd of athletes in/around Koper. Curious to see if it will be very competitive or more packed with first-timers. But given the fact that it is a late-season race with qualifying option for 70.3 Worlds in Nice/France 2019, it probably attracts a good portion of very competitive triathletes from Germany, Austria, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia...


Any other tips? Must-do's? Course-insights? ...?

I've been to Koper! I recall going to a nice mall there on my way to Portoroz/Piran, but never made it to the old town.
Spent some time exploring Trieste too, a much more interesting place than it's industrial appearance would have you believe.
I love that part of the world. I think Rovinj might be the most beautiful city in Europe.

Izola is good choice, very nice small old town with narrow streets etc. Piran is similar, very beautiful, you can take nice beach walk to Piran from Fiesa below cliffs.

Regarding other Must do's...it depends what gets your heart ticking, but just few ideas:

- rent a car for a week
- if you like nature go see Bled/Bohinj

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/slovenia/julian-alps/bled

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/slovenia/julian-alps/bohinj


- if you're gourme type go eat at #1 2017 world women chef Ana Roš in her restaurant


http://www.hisafranko.com/en/


-if you like caves, medival castles, visit these places


https://www.postojnska-jama.eu/en/


-since you're in Slovenia, you're 2 hours drive from famouse Venice in Italy....visit!


- finally you can visit Ljubljana- the capital of Slovenia with it's medival castle and old town


Eat, drink, etc. it's very cheap in Slovenia, no tips expected.


Regarding course. Swim is in the sea, very calm usualy. Bike, tough as mentioned. Run, flat, concrete, can be windy, no shadow.


Well, i feel like tourist agent :-), but since my country is not mentioned often here.....


Best of luck!

Thanks a lot for all your input and the respective links. Sounds great!

I will be coming by car from Munich, so we can easily get around in the week before the race. I certainly will enjoy...