We present the latest results of the novel model for transverse electromagnetic load optimization(TEMLOP) especially developed for the ITER type of cable-in-conduit conductors (CICCs). TheNb3Sn CICCs for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) showed a substantialdegradation in their performance correlated with increasing electromagnetic load. Not only dothe differences in the thermal contraction of the composite materials affect the critical current(Ic) and temperature margin, but electromagnetic forces cause asignificant transverse strand contact and bending strain in theNb3Sn layers, resulting in localized filament cracking and permanent degradation.The most essential feature of the a priori TEMLOP predictions presented in May 2006 isthat the severe degradation in CICCs can be improved greatly and straightforwardly byincreasing the pitch length in subsequent cabling stages and by reducing the void fraction.These corrective measures give more support to the strands, sufficiently reduce the strain,and therefore avoid filament damage at the strand crossover points in the cables. It was thefirst time that an increase of the cable twist pitches has been proposed and noexperimental evidence was available at that time. A full-size European prototypeTF conductor sample (TFPRO-2), manufactured in autumn 2006, was adaptedaccording to this new insight and tested in April 2007 in SULTAN for experimentalvalidation of the predictions. The results were outstanding: for the first time anNb3Sn CICCconductor achieved the performance that can be expected based on the single-strand properties, withhigh n value and no sign of degradation.As input, besides the cable properties, the model directly uses the measured data fromsingle strands under uni-axial stress and strain, periodic bending and contact loads. Therecent test results of the ITER OST strands used for the manufacture of the TFPRO-2obtained with the TARSIS set-up are presented. With these most recent strand results, themodel substantiates that not only strand bending is causing degradation but,depending on the strand and cable layout, the strand contact stress can also play acritical role. TEMLOP demonstrates that the twist pitch scheme and void fraction,of the proposed ITER reference TF conductor layout with a first-stage triplettwist pitch of 45 mm, turns out to be practically a worst-case scenario. It is alsoshown that shorter pitches can lead to an improvement but this requires moreNb3Sn material per metre composite conductor. However, it has been experimentally proven nowthat the proposed changes recover the ITER TF conductor operational margin up to theexpected strand performance. The ITER TF conductor specification is being adapted nowand it becomes possible to gain significant savings on the strand design, as degradation nolonger needs to be compensated for.