By Clark Ainsworth BBC News, Tunbridge Wells

About 1,300 road junctions will be closed for the 189 'Le Tour' riders

About 1.5 million visitors are expected in Kent this weekend to watch one of the world's biggest sporting spectacles - the Tour de France.

Kent Police has mounted the largest logistical operation in its 150-year-history to ensure the prestigious race runs smoothly.

Over the past 18 months, a team of officers has put together plans to ensure it causes minimum desruption.

Across Kent 1,300 road junctions will be closed for the 189 "Le Tour" riders.

About 1,700 constables, support officers, special constables and staff have been drafted in to look after crowd management and traffic duties.

All leave has been cancelled and according to Supt Mark Janaway, silver commander of Le Tour: "We'll have nobody sitting about doing nothing".

Six helicopters and two aircraft will also circle the skies above the county during the event.

Tour de France in Kent 1,700 police will be on duty, Kent Police's largest ever deployment The 'caravan' includes 220 vehicles, is 20km long and will take 3.5 hrs to pass The cyclists of the peloton will ride past in 30-40 seconds 4,000 staff including emergency services and stewards will be on hand 10,000 traffic cones 60km of barriers 3,000 hay bales

The police force had some experience of the Tour de France when it was staged in the UK in 1994 but that is expected to pale into significance compared with Sunday's stage.

Mr Janaway said: "It just touched the county in 1994. This one starts in London and the majority of the first stage is in Kent. It is much, much bigger."

He said the cooperation with his French counterparts had been invaluable.

More than 40 French Police motorcyclists will form part of a motorcade that looks after the riders.

"The French organisation for this has been enormous. The 46 French motorcycle officers will be working on the closed roads within the race. It lets us get on with our job.

"We won't be asking them to do any police work itself though," he said.

Terror threat

Mr Janaway added: "Everybody's really been involved in the planning of this for 18 months. We all still had a day job, that has been until the last couple where it's been full-time.

He said the recent failed bomb attacks had had little impact on their plans. "That was always part of the plans, the terror threat. We have been working on that with the Metropolitan Police staff," he added.

Road closures along the 120 mile route would keep disruption to a minimum and Kent Police has said there are no plans to "close down Kent."