Riders relax in different ways on flight to Paris

PARIS (AP) The pre-ride routine before Sunday's final stage of the Tour de France saw the remaining riders taking a specially chartered transit flight from Lyon to Paris, where they hopped onto buses taking them to the start line next to the resplendent Chateau of Versailles.

The huge Boeing 777 selected to ferry the airborne peloton traveled in from the Reunion Islands, landing at Paris Orly airport at the break of dawn and then making the short journey to pick up the riders in Lyon as they arrived under police escort.

On the flight, the riders relaxed in different ways as they looked ahead to ditching their bikes and putting up their feet after more than three weeks of grueling racing on the 100th edition of the Tour.

Some, like Alberto Contador and Cadel Evans shut themselves off to pause for thought, others like veterans David Millar and Jens Voigt read books, while mountain climbing king Nairo Quintana shrieked with laughter as he cracked jokes with a Movistar teammate.

Nairo finished the Tour in second place, at the expense of Contador.

Understandably, Contador was in no mood to join in the revelry.

His face was a picture of despondency. The Spaniard looked absolutely shattered, dragging his feet slowly as he prepared for his final climb up the plane's steps.

The two-time Tour winner had been challenging Chris Froome for overall victory for most of the race and seemed at least guaranteed a podium place. But on Saturday's brutal last climb on stage 20 he was left behind by Quintana and Joaquim Rodriguez, slipping off the podium and down to fourth.

Evans, the 2011 winner, also had a Tour he will quickly want to forget.

The 36-year-old trailed Froome by 90 minutes the time it takes to play a football match and the exhausted Australian finished in 39th.

"Why have they put me down here?" Evans said, with an air of self-persecution, upon realizing he was seated near the back of the plane. "What have I done to deserve this?"

An interview request was met with a firm "No," a glazy-eyed shake of the head, and on came the red headphones as he stared out of the window to let his tired mind drift with the clouds.

Portuguese rider Rui Costa winner of two hilly stages this year had his legs crossed and his feet up as he watched the small screen in front of him showing the plane's altitude, speed and distance covered. Costa showed great acceleration on the Tour climbs, but even he seemed impressed as the speed reached 542 kilometers (338 miles) per hour.

The 36-year-old Millar was a picture of calm as he sipped a soft drink and read "In Search of Churchill: A Historian's Journey" a book about the British wartime leader.

"It's one of the hardest Tours I've done," said Millar, who has now taken part in the Tour 12 times. Next year may be his last one, he said.

Until next July, he has plenty of time for more books.