LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Disgraced cycling champion Lance Armstrong crashed his car into two parked vehicles and let his girlfriend take the rap after a night out, reports said on Tuesday.

The 43-year-old's girlfriend, Anna Hansen, 33, initially told police she was behind the wheel of the car following the incident in December in Aspen, Colorado.

She later admitted that Armstrong - given a life ban from cycling three years ago after admitting to doping - had been driving at the time, The Denver Post reported.

He faces charges for failing to report an accident and speeding, which are punishable by up to 90 days in jail and fines of up to US$300 (S$400), it said.

According to the Aspen Daily News, which first reported the Dec 28 incident, Hansen initially lied about who was behind the wheel and whether Armstrong had been drinking, to avoid national headlines.

She was cited in two traffic tickets but they were transferred to Armstrong on Jan 12 after the circumstances had been clarified, the Daily News reported.

He was stripped of his Tour de France titles and given a life ban from cycling by the United States Anti-Doping Agency in 2012 for doping.

The cancer survivor eventually made a public confession in a television interview with US talk show host Oprah Winfrey in 2013.