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Journalists and cycling-industry representatives descended upon the quiet resort town of Sun Valley, Idaho, last week for Press Camp, a three-day event that included rapid-fire, one-on-one meetings each morning, followed by afternoon test rides and demos. It was a lot of information to absorb in just three days — but we’re finally catching up and passing the word along to you.

Clif Bar: New drink, new flavors for bars, Bloks

Team sport directors are rallying their opposition to plans to ban race radio during two stages during the upcoming Tour de France. Representatives from some of the top teams Monday criticized efforts by Tour officials to ban the use of earpieces and radio links between sport directors and racers during two stages at this year’s race, calling the measure “outdated and inappropriate.”

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With the addition of a mobile phone company co-sponsor, Team Columbia is now Columbia-HTC. Team owner Bob Stapleton announced the new sponsor and his squad’s Tour de France lineup Monday. Mark Cavendish, who won four stages in the 2008 Tour, will be joined by Michael Rogers, Kim Kirchen, George Hincapie, Tony Martin, Maxime Monfort, Mark Renshaw, Bernie Eisel and Bert Grabsch at the start of the 2009 Tour in Monaco on Saturday. Rogers, Kirchen and Monfort are the team’s GC hopes, with world time trial champion Grabsch a clear favorite for the individual events.

Rock Racing’s Rahsaan Bahati won his third consecutive Manhattan Beach Grand Prix on Sunday. Colavita Sutter-Home p/b Cooking Light rider Lucas Sebastian Haedo took second in the seaside Southern California NRC criterium while Ken Hanson of Team Type 1 placed third. In the women's race, 16-year old Proman Hit Squad rider Coryn Rivera took the win after riding a smart race and outkicking the competition out of the final turn.

Quick Step has eight of its nine riders ready for the Tour de France, but the Belgian team is waiting to learn the fate of Tom Boonen. Boonen’s immediate future lies in the hands of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which is expected to decide Tuesday if the recently crowned Belgian national champion can start the Tour.

The 2009 BC Bike Race wasted little time in pushing its 400 or so competitors into the deep end. Just 7km into Sunday’s opening stage, a 28km loop around North Vancouver, riders took an abrupt left turn onto a steep, super-technical trail named Severed Dick. It was appropriate that British Columbia’s downhill/freeride legend Wade Simmons stood atop the trail, clad in a red volunteer T-shirt, pointing riders down the root-covered chute.?

Chris Sheppard and Seamus McGrath (Santa Cruz-Jamis) made good on their pre-race promise to “go for glory” at the 2009 BC Bike Race. One year after failing to finish due to a mechanical, the Canadians steamrolled to victory in Sunday’s 28km opening stage ahead of last year’s champs, Barry Wicks and Kris Sneddon (Kona). “We thought we would ride pretty conservative and just get through the first day,” said Sheppard. “I hadn’t ridden some of these trails since 2000 or 2001.”

The analysis of the “B” sample of Katusha's Christian Pfannberger confirmed the presence of the banned blood booster EPO, Austrian anti-doping officials said Monday. The 29-year-old Pfannberger tested positive for EPO in an out-of-competition test March 19. The counter-analysis confirmed the result and now Pfannberger will face a disciplinary process at NADA, the Austrian anti-doping agency. The two-time Austrian national champion was suspended by his Katusha team when news of the EPO positive broke last month.

With Damiano Cunego giving the Tour de France a skip to prepare for the world championships, Lampre-NGC will instead focus on trying to win stages and leave the fight for the GC to the other teams. The Italian team brings a nine-man squad full of stage-hunters, with the lone exception of veteran Marzio Bruseghin, who will do what he can to try to finish among the top 10 overall. The improving condition of reigning world champion Alessandro Ballan, who missed the spring classics with poor health, gives Lampre a shot to fight for a stage in the breakaways and transition stages.

French veteran Christophe Moreau will headline Agritubel in what’s expected to be his final Tour de France. The 38-year-old Moreau will anchor an Agritubel team that brings a mix of youth and experience that will be on the hunt for stage victories and perhaps a spell in one of the jersey for Moreau’s exit.

Tom Boonen (Quick Step), whose participation in the next Tour de France may depend on a court order, won the Belgian road cycling championships on Sunday. The 28-year-old outsprinted Philippe Gilbert and Kristof Goddart to claim his first national title as an elite on an undulating 234km course that some felt would not favor the big rider’s strengths. "Philippe was the strongest today,” said Boonen. “I had no legs but I raced with my head. I am especially happy for my team, which did a great job.”

Brazilian Daniela Figueiredo Genovesi on Sunday became the first solo woman to finish the Race Across America in several years, taking the victory by some 10 hours over U.S. rider Janet Christiansen. Genovesi covered the the 3,021 miles from Oceanside, California, to Annapolis, Maryland, in 11 days, 17 hours and eight minutes. “I don’t know the words to say how I feel,” she said. “So happy, so happy.”