In Belgium, The Sights, Sounds and Smells of the Tour de France LIÈGE, Belgium - There are no sunflowers or châteaus here in Liège, an industrial city in the heart of Belgian coal-mining country, only smoke-belching factories and rusted rail lines. But the absence of classic Tour de France scenery has not deterred cycling fans. On Saturday, they streamed into the city en masse to catch a glimpse of their favorite riders. As I write in my piece about this year's race, the 99th edition of cycling's premier race may prove to be one of the most compelling in recent years, Here, fans will have two opportunities this weekend to watch the Tour end in the Liège area. The Liègois provincial government paid more than €4 million, or more than $5 million, to host the race's so-called Grand Départ, or opening stages. The 99th edition of the Tour will spend the first three days in Belgium before heading to northeastern France, where it will follow a clockwise path around the Hexagon and finish in Paris on July 22. The race began today in downtown Liège with a 6.4-kilometer individual time trial along the Meuse River and the tree-lined Parc d'Avory. More than two hours before the first rider left the start house, cafés near the park were packed with an international crowd. Australians and Germans sat by French and Canadians, drinking half pints of Belgian beer out of plastic cups. Down the street, outside the loading dock of the chain grocer Carrefour, store employees grilled sausages and slices of pork for a long queue of hungry spectators. Nearby, under a canopy of plane trees, cycling teams had parked their buses - large diesel coaches that are the riders' second homes during the three-week Tour. Mechanics unloaded bikes and tuned the machines a final time. Team VIPs and press officers milled about. The riders, however, were nowhere to be seen. Most were safely ensconced in their buses, protected from adoring fans and probing journalists by seriously tinted windows. If the fans minded, they didn't show it. Outside of the Team BMC Racing bus, a young fan clad in the team's red and black kit screamed with joy as he waited to meet his favorite rider, BMC's team captain - and defending Tour champion - Cadel Evans. Not everyone was enjoying the spectacle. Léo Modica, a Liège police officer, had been patrolling Boulevard d'Avroy since 7 a.m. and was busy multitasking: answering questions from tourists, keeping watch over the throngs of fans emerging from Liège's nearby train station and, toughest of all, preventing unaccredited vehicles from driving on the race course. At one point, he turned away an elderly lady who was attempting to park by her apartment building. "It's not going very well, as you can see," he said, as cycling fans streamed by. I'm trying to do one thing and then something else comes up. Modica, a 19-year veteran of the city's police force, cautioned that his Sunday could be even busier. The Tour departs from Liège in the afternoon; Sunday evening is the Euro 2012 final between Spain and Italy. There are lots of Spanish ex-pats living in Liège, according to Modica. If Spain wins on Sunday night, he said, then the city would really see "a big party."