What (警官の)巡回区域,受持ち区域s the 小旅行する de フラン? The 小旅行する with fries and mayo

BRUSSELS (AP) - For die-hard fans in cycling-mad Belgium, only one thing (警官の)巡回区域,受持ち区域s watching the 小旅行する de フラン: Watching cycling's greatest race while also munching on fries slathered in mayo.

And don't make the mistake of calling them "French fries."

Because in Belgium, the country that gifted the 広大な/多数の/重要な Eddy Merckx to cycling and where the race starts on Saturday, chopping potatoes into slivers and 深い-frying them in fat is 事実上 an art. Woe to those who 好意 those floury, flavorless, frozen 急速な/放蕩な-food toothpicks masquerading as fries.

The real things, for ベルギー aficionados, are made from fresh potatoes only, 二塁打-cooked in beef drippings, and are 価値(がある) いっそう少なく than Lance Armstrong's seven 麻薬ing-燃料d 小旅行する victories if they don't crackle and crunch between the teeth.

"A good fry must, successively, swim, sing and jump," Belgium's 国家の Union of Fry-製造者s - yes, there is such an organization - says on its website .

Not that the riders themselves will notice. Watching their diets to keep their 負わせる 負かす/撃墜する and energy levels up, and 焦点(を合わせる)d on 生き残るing the grueling three-week 運ぶ/漁獲高 through Belgium and フラン, they're about to 行方不明になる out on the rolling gastronomic and cultural feast that is the 小旅行する, as the race バーレル/樽s through 地域s heaving with edibles of all 肉親,親類d.

Slovakia's Peter Sagan is seen prior to a training session, in Brussels, Friday, July 5, 2019, ahead of upcoming Saturday's start of the race. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Slovakia's Peter Sagan is seen 事前の to a training 開会/開廷/会期, in Brussels, Friday, July 5, 2019, ahead of 近づいている Saturday's start of the race. (AP Photo/Christoph e Ena)

There'll be quiches, pates, cakes and snails in the east of フラン; cheeses, hams and chestnuts in the Massif Central mountains in the middle; bean stews, sausages and yet more cheeses in the south; and don't forget to leave room in the アルプス山脈 for - yup, you guessed it - more cheese, 加える other mountain delicacies.

Oh, and did we について言及する the beers and ワインs? 行う/開催する/段階 3 on Monday will see the 小旅行する roll into Epernay in French シャンペン酒 country. 元気づけるs!

So stick with us at The Associated 圧力(をかける), for the 十分な Taste of the 小旅行する experience. Every day, we'll bring you a slice of everything that's 価値(がある) eating, drinking and seeing along the way, all washed 負かす/撃墜する with updates on how the race is playing out. It should be informative, visual, fun ... and make you hungry. We'll break the race 負かす/撃墜する into easily digestible chunks, with the bread-and-butter of what's coming up on the road, choice morsels from riders, and juicy stats.

Now, 支援する to fries.

Brussels 訪問者s Eliane Paulet and Michel Jacquinet made a beeline for fry shop Fritland, joining the line to buy two 激しい cornets of fresh fries, after a joyous 儀式 in the city's Grand Square on Thursday night that 祝日,祝うd five-time 小旅行する 勝利者 Merckx and introduced the 小旅行する teams.

She covered her fries with a gooey, spicy "Samurai" sauce; he went for more 伝統的な mayonnaise. Inside, cooks furiously scooped the potato wedges into 泡ing fat for a first fry, took them out, 冷静な/正味のd them off, and then fried them again for crunch.

Paulet said the secret of good fries is "good oil, beef grease." She 扱う/治療するs herself to a cornet once a month.

BAGUETTE AND BUTTER: 行う/開催する/段階 1 is 異常に long for a 小旅行する start, at 194.5 キロメーターs (121 miles). The big 宙返り飛行 south of Brussels will zoom through Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, the 郊外 where Merckx's parents ran a grocery 蓄える/店 and where he grew up, dreaming of bike racing. This 小旅行する 示すs the 50th 周年記念日 of Merckx's first victory in 1969. The finish is likely to be a nervy, m ass sprint by the entire peloton of riders, which could be 危険な because of a succession of three sharp bends in the final 5 キロメーターs (3 miles).

QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I don't feel I've got to 証明する anything. Even though some people have said, you know, about 存在 a 'one-攻撃する,衝突する wonder' and stuff. (It was) a pretty good 攻撃する,衝突する to have." - 2018 小旅行する 支持する/優勝者 Geraint Thomas, explaining Friday that he doesn't feel 抱擁する 圧力 to defend his 肩書を与える.

STAT OF THE DAY: 56. That's the number of ベルギー riders who have worn the iconic "maillot jaune", the canary-yellow jersey borne by the race leader, since it was first introduced 100 years ago, at the 13th 小旅行する in 1919.

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More 小旅行する de フラン ニュース報道: https://apnews.com/TourdeFrance

France's Warren Barguil signs autographs prior to a training session, in Brussels, Friday, July 5, 2019, ahead of upcoming Saturday's start of the race. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

フラン's 過密な住居 Barguil 調印するs autographs 事前の to a training 開会/開廷/会期, in Brussels, Friday, July 5, 2019, ahead of 近づいている Saturday's start of the race. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

An inscription is written on Peter Sagan's bike handlebars ahead of the 2019 Tour de France cycling race in Brussels, Friday, July 5, 2019. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

An inscription is written on Peter Sagan's bike handlebars ahead of the 2019 小旅行する de フラン cycling race in Brussels, Friday, July 5, 2019. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Denmark's Jakob Fuglsang, foreground, rides with teammates during a training session, in Brussels, Friday, July 5, 2019, ahead of upcoming Saturday's start of the race. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Denmark's Jakob Fuglsang, foreground, rides with チーム仲間s during a training 開会/開廷/会期, in Brussels, Friday, July 5, 2019, ahead of 近づいている Saturday's start of the race. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Slovakia's Peter Sagan is seen prior to a training session, in Brussels, Friday, July 5, 2019, ahead of upcoming Saturday's start of the race. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Slovakia's Peter Sagan is seen 事前の to a training 開会/開廷/会期, in Brussels, Friday, July 5, 2019, ahead of 近づいている Saturday's start of the race. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

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