Ballon d'Alsace

Not to be confused with the Grand Ballon in Alsace.
Ballon d'Alsace
Elevation 1,247 m (4,091 ft)
Prominence
Location
Ballon d'Alsace

France

Range Vosges
Coordinates 47°49′20″N 6°50′43″E / 47.82222°N 6.84528°ECoordinates: 47°49′20″N 6°50′43″E / 47.82222°N 6.84528°E

Ballon d'Alsace German: Elsässer Belchen (el. 1247 m.) is a mountain at the border of Alsace, Lorraine, and Franche-Comté. From its top, views include the Vosges, the Rhine valley, the Black Forest, and the Alps.

A road leads over a pass near the peak at the Col du Ballon d'Alsace, 1,171 m (3,842 ft). The pass is noted as the site of the first official mountain climb in the Tour de France on 11 July 1905,[1] the first rider to the top of the climb being René Pottier and the stage being won by Hippolyte Aucouturier. Stage 9 of the 2005 Tour crossed this pass on the centenary of the original climb.

Ballon d'Alsace features Alpine and Cross Country skiing tracks.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "L'HISTOIRE 1903-2008" (PDF) (in French). Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 2011-05-05.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ballon d'Alsace.