Ballon d’Alsace – Malvaux

The 1247-meter-high Ballon d’Alsace (German: Alsatian Belchen) is a mountain in France in the southern Vosges Mountains. From the summit, Mont Blanc can be seen in clear weather.

Connecting the Moselle Valley to the north with the Savoureuse Valley to the south and the Doller River to the east, the road leads past the summit over a pass at an altitude of 1171 meters.

On July 10, 1905, the Tour de France crossed the Ballon d’Alsace for the first time. That was then in the first real mountain stage in tour history. It is often told that this climb was the very first col ever in the Tour de France, but that is not true. That honor belongs to Col du Pin Bouchain, in the first stage of the very first tour in 1903. After that, the Tour de France passed over the Ballon d’Alsace more than once.Wikipedia