Twice the Ballon d'Alsace

On this first day of our annual Vosges trip, we warm up cycling the slopes of the Ballon d'Alsace. We tackle the climb along the two most beautiful sides. The classic northern side from Saint-Maurice-sur-Moselle, where Eddy Merckx laid the foundation for his first Tour victory in 1969, and the eastern flank from Masevaux and Sewen.

We depart from the Hotel des Sapins in Le Ménil and cycle along the D486 towards Le Thillot. We briefly continue on the D486 through the center and turn right towards Servance. After 500 meters, the road crosses the Voie Verte des Hautes Vosges, which we will follow to the left almost to the foot of the Ballon d'Alsace.

Just before Saint-Maurice-sur-Moselle, we pass through a tunnel underneath the N56 and leave the Voie Verte. We turn right and back on the N56 to the right. 200 meters further, we go left and begin our first climb.

The Ballon d'Alsace is 9 km long along this northern side and takes us from an altitude of 551 meters to the top at 1165 meters. A height difference of 614 meters, giving us an average gradient of 6.8%. And we can take that average as a standard here because the entire climb varies barely between 6.5% and 7.5%. Once we find our rhythm, we will fully enjoy this fantastic climb with its 14 hairpin turns.

Once past the top, we continue along the road until we reach an intersection. There, we take the D468 to the right to descend the Ballon along the southern side to Giromagny after nearly 15 km. We continue along the road towards Masevaux (after another 15 km). In Masevaux, we go straight until we reach the intersection with D466. There, we turn left onto D466, but we make sure to take the parallel bike path about a kilometer later that will lead us to Sewen.

In Sewen, we naturally follow the direction towards the Ballon d'Alsace to start our second climb once we’re outside the village, after some false flat. This time we face a height difference of 662 meters to the top after 13 km (from Sewen). Less steep, therefore, averaging 5.1% with brief maxima of 7%. The road is very quiet, wooded, and well-paved. Again, we try to enjoy, but we still need to save some energy for tomorrow!

Once at the top, we continue along the road to Saint-Maurice-sur-Moselle and take the Voie Verte back to Le Thillot after descending for 9 km, then the N56 to Le Ménil.