with one exception I believe it's been 15 days. (TCR no6 was 16 days, as slightly longer I believe.) Frank may be able to confirm.
I think it was 16 days last year. It's all a bit of a fog now! Not many people are that fussed about the GC cut-off, though. Whether you make the party or not is a bigger deal. Getting an 'official' finish in an event that isn't recognised by any governing body doesn't mean an awful lot, IMHO. However, I suppose it could be a useful motivator for someone who was around that time.
No point in trying too hard to plan where you will sleep. You might have somewhere in mind for the first night but chances are it will be too soon or too late. After that, who knows where you will be on which night!
As Jonah says, in Europe there is generally food and drink within an hour or two of anywhere. The only exception is the long, remote parcours - worth having a resupply plan for them. Despite being well stocked from the previous night, I ran out of food and water on the one in Romania last year, and others did too.
It was great to see that Strasser had entered again. He stayed right to the end of the party last time and was very approachable. I enjoyed speaking to him. I'd actually read his book (which I'd recommend - although he needs to update it now with his TCR experience!), just before he announced he was riding, so I knew a bit about him already. I asked him if he was coming back but he said he'd have to think about it, which makes sense as a pro. I'd expect him to be a lot quicker this year as he made quite a few big navigation errors last year and will have learned a lot (as everyone does from the first one).
