The story flew under the sports radar over the weekend, but world champion bicyclist Lance Armstrong made good on his promise to return to the triathlon arena.

Turns out he wasn’t fooling around.

Armstrong finished second overall at the Ironman Panama 70.3.

Armstrong, 41, took on a top-notch field on endurance and Olympic-distance athletes and was only 33 seconds out of first place at the first transition. He led New Zealand star Bevan Docherty by more than a minute but couldn’t hold him off.

Docherty represents what could be an influx of Olympic-distance specialists who migrate to the longer races in pursuit of larger purses.

Armstrong’s participation will also no doubt increase media attention on the Ironman series.

But could it also lead him to Des Moines in September?