Col du Ballon d’Alsace – 1,171m

 

Route: D465 St. Maurice sur Moselle to Giromagny - 15 miles

 

Ridden: 02/07/2006 & 02/07/2008

 

This Col on the D465 between St. Maurice sur Moselle and Giromagny, just north of Belfort - where Alstom make the TGVs (Train Grande Vitesse) - takes you over the Ballon d'Alsace. A good biking road from both sides but beware of the road surface. There's a memorial at the top to WWII bomb disposal units and an impressive collection of old bomb casings. Why anyone should have wanted to drop a bomb around here is something we couldn't fathom! Also famous as being the first ever mountain stage in the Tour de France - in 1905!