1999 Results:

Criterium du Dauphine Libere
6th Stage 3, Bedoin to Le Mont Ventoux
2nd Stage 6, Challes-les-Eaux to Passy Plaine Joux
6th G.C.

Route du Sud
9th Stage 4, Aston to Plateau de Beille

Tour de France
36th G.C.
Armstrong (USPS Team Leader), Champion

GP Breitling Two Up TT
8th (Livingston + Armstrong)

1999 turned out to be a very successful year for Kevin and the United States Postal Service Team. Kevin met up with his new team in January for a 2 week training camp in Buellton, California. He had packed away the old Cofidis wear and was ready to sport the new colors. The team was full of enthusiasm and they looked ahead to the upcoming season.

Kevin's first race with the new team came at Ruta del Sol. Traditionally, it has always been the race at the beginning of the season where all the riders are trying to stretch the legs out and figure out what kind of shape they are in. Next, it was Luis Pig. Kevin raced it with Lance and some of the other USPS boys but it was too early for Lance or Kevin to gauge their fitness levels. The team was exerting no pressure on Kevin in the early months of the season. They knew that they needed him as the workhorse in the later, summer months. The early season classics are more suitable for riders like George Hincapie.

After Paris-Nice, Kevin raced Frankfurt, furthering his own racing base, and propelling him through the spring build-up.

By May, Kevin had returned to Austin to spend some time with his fiancée, Becky Burnett, and train for two weeks by himself. He was working the legs back in the States and preparing himself mentally for the months ahead where he would be expected to produce tangible results for himself and the team.

After the brief stay in Austin, Kevin flew to Nice to join up with Lance Armstrong. Together with Tyler Hamilton, Kevin and Lance drove north to the Alps to preview some Tour stages. Johan Bruyneel, Emma (the head soigneur), and their mechanic, joined them. It was a 5-day training camp aimed at checking out the mountain stages of the Tour. They were riding up all the climbs, like the Galibier, the road to Sestrieres, and L'Alpe d'Huez. Conditions were very tough. Almost everyday, it was rainy, cold, and foggy. The three probably didn't know that they would be the leaders on all these climbs in July. There was still a lot of snow and debris on the roads from spring and the guys had to just tough it out in the harsh conditions.

By June, it was time for Classique Des Alpes. It was a climbers race that should have suited Kevin's style but a lack of racing miles and jet lag came into play. Kevin, never having been known as a rider who quits races, was forced to abandon. It was his first race in over a month and the form just wasn't there yet.

He finally started to come around during Le Dauphine Libere, another race that tends to sort out the climbing specialists. Kevin, Lance Armstrong, Tyler Hamilton, and Jonathan Vaughters, all turned in outstanding performances. Kevin finished 6th during Stage 3's time trial on the mountaintop of Le Mont Ventoux. It is a brutal climb and that result confirmed that Kevin's climbing was coming around. Two days later, he nearly won the mountain stage that finished at Passy Plaine Joux. He finished 2nd to a Cofidis rider. Kevin left the Dauphine with a 6th place finish.

At the Route du Sud, the United States Postal Service Team put in a performance that announced to the world their intentions at the upcoming Tour de France. Jonathan Vaughters was the overall winner and Lance won the last stage. On the day of the last stage, Kevin and three other USPS riders all finished in the top ten.

By July, it was time for the Tour de France and the United States Postal Service Team arrived in Paris hoping to place Lance Armstrong in yellow. The Tour became magical. It was a little bit of a surprise to see Lance win the Prologue but it was a foreshadowing of things to come. The team gave up the yellow jersey in the sprinting stages before the Alps but after Lance proved himself in the mountains, the team regained the jersey, never to relinquish it as they raced into Paris. Kevin's performances in the Alps and the Pyrenees preserved the yellow jersey for Lance. Kevin climbed especially well in the Pyrenees keeping the contenders at bay and pacing Lance up the long climbs. (Click on the "peleton notes" section of the home page to see a day to day commentary of the Tour de France) The team was on top of the world in Paris. They had kept their man, Lance, in yellow, and had won the most prestigious bike race in the world

After the Tour, Kevin rode in some criteriums and other post Tour races. Just two days after the Tour, he traveled to the Travers-Lausanne race with his fiancée, Becky Burnett. A week later, he joined up with Lance for a two-man time trial at GP Breitling. He was still racing on his Tour de France high.

At the Tour of Burgos in Spain, Kevin felt like his racing was more on the average side. He finished in the center of the pack. At the race in Zurich, he had a bad day. He was beginning to feel very ill and he had a poor result. A virus attacked Kevin's body and he had to stop riding. He couldn't race or train. As the Tour of Spain approached, Kevin knew that he wouldn't be prepared. He couldn't race a major Tour after not even riding. He made a decision with the team to not race at the Vuelta.

On November 13th, Kevin and Becky got married in San Antonio with family, friends, and teammates. After a few weeks off the bike, Kevin resumed his winter training schedule with Lance.