Vosges : East

Last updated: 13 July 2016

From Saint-Maurice-sur-Moselle you ride the Ballon d'Alsace by the north side. This climb can be described as very regular: the slopes are almost continuously 7%. It's also even in terms of landscape: you pedal largely through the forests, and only in a few places the forest opens up so you have a view of the surroundings. The long descent takes you into the Doller Valley. You are now also on the route of the cyclo Les 3 Ballons edition 2016. To avoid the busier main road between Sewen and Masevaux, the route passes through a paved cycle path in the valley.

From Masevaux you climb the Hundsruck Pass. The descent takes you into the Thur valley. You then follow the Voie Verte signs to avoid the busy main road of this valley, until you reach Willer-sur-Thur. Then you climb the Grand Ballon, where you have to fill nearly 1000 meters of elevation. Then you follow the Route des Crêtes, a road on a ridge at an altitude of 1200 meters. Due to the location and the wind that has free play here, the trees are less likely to grow and you have beautiful views in several places. Then, descend to Lake Kruth-Wildenstein and cross the valley's grassland landscape to the foot of the Oderen Pass.
The ascent of the Oderen Pass passes entirely through forests. At the bottom of the climb is a waterfall, but it is not visible from the road. To the top of the Col d'Oderen you followed the route of the cyclo Les 3 Ballons 2016 edition. Via the Col du Page you go to Bussang, still in the Moselle valley. You can bypass the busy N66 in the valley by following the Greenway: a paved cycle path on the old railway line in this valley. The alternatives to this cycle path are the hilly secondary roads to the left or right of the Moselle valley (Rue des Champs Conot, Route de Haitroye).

N.B.: the alternatives for the ascent of the Grand Ballon are:
- the slightly northernmost variant of Moosch: steep but narrow street that can make the climbing experience more beautiful, but partly bad asphalt;
- or the more southern variant of Cernay (22 km) but with more than 5 kilometers of false flat in the middle of the climb with even a descent: to avoid the busy N66 as you approach the southern foot of the Grand Ballon, you can take the forest road (RF) in the descent of the Col du Hundsruck, the RF takes you directly to Thann.