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Ballon d'Alsace – Voie verte along the Moselle loop from Fontaine Minerale

Ballon d'Alsace – Voie verte along the Moselle loop from Fontaine Minerale

Hard

4.6

(7)

263

riders

Ballon d'Alsace – Voie verte along the Moselle loop from Fontaine Minerale

02:48

44.6km

1,240m

Road cycling

Hard road ride. Very good fitness required. Mostly well-paved surfaces and easy to ride. The starting point of the route is right next to a parking lot.

Last updated: March 29, 2026

Tips

Your route passes through a protected area

Please check local regulations for:

Parc naturel régional des Ballons des Vosges

Waypoints

Start point

Parking

Get Directions

15.5 km

Borne René Pottier

Highlight • Other

René Pottier was the first to cross the Ballon d'Alsace in the Tour de France in 1905 (supposedly at an average speed of 20 km/h) and thus became cycling's first unofficial mountain king. In his honor, a stone with an inscription and his photo was placed at the top of the Ballon d'Alsace pass. However, in 1905 he did not win the stage over the mountain or the Tour de France itself - he had to retire due to an injury. In 1906 René came back, was first at the top of the pass again and was then also at the front in Paris. In his Tour victory he also won five stages, four of them in a row. Perhaps he could have repeated his success more times. In January 1907, just six months after his Tour triumph, Pottier took his own life by hanging himself in the garage of the bicycle factory whose bikes he rode. Employees found him hanging on the hook where his bike used to hang. Lovesickness was assumed to be the reason. He was 27 years old.

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16.0 km

Ballon d'Alsace Inn

Highlight • Restaurant

When you are at the top of the Ballon d'Alsace, the view is your first reward. The Auberge du Ballon d'Alsace is the second. With its traditional dishes, its panoramic terrace, and its friendliness you will be well. Ideal place for a gourmet break.

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16.5 km

Ballon d'Alsace

Highlight • Natural Monument

Here René Pottier conquered the first pass of the Tour de France on July 11, 1905. The Ballon d'Alsace then remained unrivaled for five years - until the much harder passes in the Pyrenees were discovered.

At 1,247 meters, the pass is by no means the highest in the Vosges and today no one would include it on the list of important passes - but there is still a certain magic about it.

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26.3 km

Voie verte along the Moselle

Highlight (Segment) • Other

Old railway line converted into a cycle path. An excellent cycle path that takes you away from the main roads.

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31.9 km

Col de Bussang

Highlight (Segment) • Mountain Pass

From Bussang you don't have to use the main road with the many trucks, but you can switch to a side road.

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33.6 km

Source of the Moselle River (Bussang)

Highlight (Segment) • River

Crisp rise, which is rewarded with a magnificent view

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38.4 km

Le Petit Drumont (1200 m)

Highlight • Summit

A hard climb in with some ramps in the double digits. On typical Vosges asphalt;) It's very traffic and lonely through the forest. Great view above.

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43.4 km

Col de Bussang (731 m)

Highlight • Mountain Pass

An ascent that has it all, but once you have arrived at the top, you have forgotten the switchbacks and trucks speeding by and celebrate the meters in altitude. It gets idyllic a few hundred meters further at the source of the Moselle....

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44.6 km

End point

Parking

Way Types & Surfaces

Way Types

34.4 km

6.28 km

2.61 km

860 m

358 m

120 m

Surfaces

43.8 km

473 m

343 m

Elevation

Nothing selected – click and drag below to see the stats for a specific part of the route.

Highest point (1,170 m)

Lowest point (550 m)

Weather

Thursday 25 June

32°C

19°C

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Ballon d'Alsace – Voie verte along the Moselle loop from Fontaine Minerale

Borne René Pottier

Ballon d'Alsace Inn

Ballon d'Alsace

Voie verte along the Moselle

Col de Bussang

Source of the Moselle River (Bussang)

Le Petit Drumont (1200 m)

Col de Bussang (731 m)

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