Lance Armstrong: Beer Mile Proves Tougher Than Tour De France for Drugs Cheat

Disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong has taken on a new sport following shocking Tour de France drug cheat revelations, but alcohol is obviously a substance he has not imbibed in any great quantity, following his failure in the annual Beer Mile.

After hanging up his cycling shorts, Armstrong decided to try and qualify for the Flotrack Beer Mile World Championship, to be held in his hometown of Austin, Texas, in December.

Armstrong has run the New York City Marathon in under three hours on two occasions, but he could not even make it past a single lap of the Beer Mile, a competition where the runner has to drink a cold beer at the beginning of each quarter-mile lap.

After finishing one beer, Armstrong cracked open a second but then conceded defeat, dropping out of the race and saying: "That was not what I expected."

His fellow competitors said they had faith in Armstrong to return to the alcohol-fuelled endurance event.

"He drank Budweiser heavy from a 12 ounce can, no widemouth, following strict international beer mile standards," said Patrick Hitchens, who completed the beer mile in 6:08.

"Perhaps his days with Michelob Ultra Lite put him at a disadvantage. He's probably on his way to a gas station getting some Budweisers right now and practicing his chugging. He's a competitor. I hope to see him out there again."

Armstrong is a former seven-time Tour de France champion but has had all of them stripped from him after admitting to taking Performance Enhancing Drugs (PED) in an interview with Oprah.