Cycling great Lance Armstrong began his campaign to qualify for the Hawaiian Ironman triathlon with a second place at the Panama 70.3 race yesterday.
The record seven-time Tour de France champion was leading during the run leg of the half ironman event, but New Zealander Bevan Docherty passed him to win by 31 seconds.
The 1.9km swim, 90km cycle and 21km run was the perfect start to Armstrong's bid to compete at Hawaii in October. The Hawaiian Ironman features a 3.86km swim, 180.25km bike race and 42.2km run.
''I need a challenge in my life,'' Armstrong said. ''I need some stuff to do. I like to train. I like to suffer a bit and today was little over the top, but it's great to be back.''
Armstrong finished in three hours, 50 minutes and 55 seconds, behind only Olympic triathlon gold medallist Docherty.
''This was absolutely awesome,'' Docherty said. ''That was one hard race, I wasn't sure what to expect but Lance really pushed me.''
Australian Richie Cunningham (3:52.59) finished third.
Armstrong showed great potential in triathlon as a teenager before switching to full-time cycling.
Last week, American federal investigators announced they had ended an investigation into Armstrong and alleged doping in cycling without laying any charges.
He will now contest Ironman France in June to try to qualify for Hawaii.
Meanwhile, three-time Hawaiian Ironman triathlon champion Craig Alexander will race at Ironman Melbourne next month, further raising the profile of the inaugural event.
The 38-year-old yesterday confirmed his entry for the March 25 race, which will be the Asia-Pacific Ironman Championship.
AAP
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