Col du Ballon is a climb in the region Ain. It is 9.3km long and bridges 592 vertical meters with an average gradient of 6.3%, resulting in a difficulty score of 427. The top of the ascent is located at 958 meters above sea level. Climbfinder users shared 2 reviews of this climb and uploaded 0 photos.
Road names: D103a & D103
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What a wonderful climb. Runs nicely, so once you have found your own cadence it is great. Couple of nice hairpins and a beautiful view around you. I did not meet anyone on the climb. Very low traffic. There is some gravel on the road here and there, but that is easy to live with.
Wat een heerlijke klim. Loopt aardig, dus als je jouw eigen cadans eenmaal hebt gevonden is het top. Paar mooie haarspeldjes en een prachtig uitzicht om je heen. Ik ben helemaal niemand tegengekomen op de klim. Zeer verkeersluw dus. Wel ligt er hier en daar wat grind op de weg, maar daar is goed mee te leven.
Did the Col du Ballon from both sides in September 2021 as part of a fantastic loop. Starting from the direction of Belley (Chazey-Bons) you enter the col at Rossilon, coming from the D1504. It's a nice climb from this side with some double digits parts, but overall not to steep. You follow the climb all they way up via Armix and Premillieu to end up on a terras at Thezillieu for some food and drinks. Then take the road to Plateau d'Hauteville, which is a nice semi-flat ride on a plateu with some nice views. In Hauteville take the descent via the D21 to Chaley. It's a fantastic descent where the road quality is perfect, the views spectacular and the Beatles' Long and Winding Road seemed to have been written for. Then follow through to Tenay, for a coffee in the sun while enjoying the beautiful views. Hop back onto the D1504 for a short piece to find the exit to Premillieu / Hostiaz to get back onto this version of the col du Ballon. This side is more challenging, but the views make up for the pain! Some parts of the climb are very small, but very limited traffic and they will be patient and only overtake where really possible. Also this descent is on a very good road surface and good oversight ahead. I left this version at Premillieu, as I'd already done the rest in the first way up, and went down via the D41C to Cheignieu la Balme to Chazey-Bons. All in all a fantastic trip!
| 7 km/h | 01:20:01 |
| 11 km/h | 00:50:55 |
| 15 km/h | 00:37:20 |
| 19 km/h | 00:29:28 |
