| 5 hairpin turns |
| #7 toughest climb of Grand Est |
Col du Petit Ballon from Leymel is a climb in the region Vosges. It is 9.8km long and bridges 778 vertical meters with an average gradient of 7.9%, resulting in a difficulty score of 669. The top of the ascent is located at 1161 meters above sea level. Climbfinder users shared 4 reviews of this climb and uploaded 14 photos.
Road names: Chemin du Leymel & Chemin du Ried
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Did this climb twice in spring time and luckily the gradient is steep enough to keep you warm in winterly conditions. Descending in fog and icy road condition aint no fun. Good thing is I didn't see a single car. There's hardly any traffic, as it is no main road. The condition of the road is in general okay, apart from some bad patches. The climb is mainly through forest and keeps you sheltered from wind. I think the climb is underrated to some other more famous climbs in the region. It is a bit of a forgotten climb, certainly worth to do.
Nice gentle climb. The "wall" is tough, poor road surface. Little view through the bso, on top it is open and nice view.
Mooie rustige beklimming. Het "muurtje" is pittig, slecht wegdek. Door het bso weinig uitzicht, bovenop is het open en mooi uitzicht.
Accidentally drove this version, Komoot sent me this way. The first part is quite steep for a while (that wall) and it looks like you are riding at someone's back. Then you get to the normal climb. This one goes nicely through a forest, the percentages still doable but that gets a bit trickier the more kilometres you climb. The road surface is fine, only it bumps a bit, so you can't put constant pressure on your pedals.
At one point you ride out of the woods and come to an Auberge. From there briefly through the forest again and then a wide view, the first of the climb. A beautiful sight though! Here the wind also has more influence but fortunately the final kilometres are in sight.
You pass another Auberge and then it's on to the top. It flattens out a bit but still tough after such'a climb.
I encountered very few cars (three) despite it being the weekend. Perhaps because it is not a real through road. The descent to the Platzerwasel is fun :)
Per ongeluk deze versie gereden, Komoot stuurde me zo. Het eerste stuk is even vrij steil (die muur) en het lijkt alsof je bij iemand achterom rijdt. Daarna kom je op de normale beklimming. Deze gaat lekker door een bos, de percentages nog te doen maar dat wordt naarmate je meer kilometers klimt ook wat lastiger. Het wegdek is prima, alleen het hobbelt een beetje, waardoor je niet een constante druk op je pedalen kunt uitoefenen.
Op een gegeven moment rijd je de bossen uit en kom je bij een Auberge. Vanaf daar even door het bos weer en daarna een weidse uitzicht, het eerste van de beklimming. Wel een mooi gezicht! Hier heeft de wind ook meer invloed maar gelukkig zijn de laatste kilometers in zicht.
Je rijdt nog een Auberge voorbij en dan is het doorbijten tot de top. Het vlakt wat af maar alsnog wel zwaar na zo'n beklimming.
Ben maar weinig auto's tegengekomen (drie stuks) ondanks dat het weekend was. Wellicht omdat het geen echt doorgaande weg is. De afdaling naar de Platzerwasel is leuk :)
this is one of the many ways to climb le col du petit ballon. It has some very steep sections in it that aren't visible on the map.
| 7 km/h | 01:24:14 |
| 11 km/h | 00:53:36 |
| 15 km/h | 00:39:18 |
| 19 km/h | 00:31:02 |
