The Col du Platzerwasel (elevation ) is a

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since many of the world's mountain ranges have presented formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human a ...

situated in the

Vosges Mountains The Vosges ( , ; german: Vogesen ; Franconian and gsw, Vogese) are a range of low mountains in Eastern France, near its border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the border, they form a single ...

in the

Haut-Rhin Haut-Rhin (, ; Alsatian: ''Owerelsàss'' or '; german: Oberelsass, ) is a department in the Grand Est region of France, bordering both Germany and Switzerland. It is named after the river Rhine. Its name means ''Upper Rhine''. Haut-Rhin is the ...

department of France, between Sondernach and

Le Markstein Le Markstein is a winter sports station in the Vosges mountains in France situated at an altitude of between and which is located on the Route des Crêtes. It forms a set of cross-country skiing with the Breitfirst ski-station and the Grand Ballo ...

. It has been crossed occasionally during the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

cycle race, including on Stage 10 of the

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

race.

Details of climb

From the north-east, the climb starts in

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

from where the climb is long, gaining in altitude, at an average gradient of 4.8%. At Sondernach, the climb meets the descent from the

Col du Petit Ballon The Col du Petit Ballon (elevation ) is a mountain pass in the Vosges Mountains in the Haut-Rhin department of France, close to the summit of the Petit Ballon mountain (). It was crossed on Stage 10 of the 2014 Tour de France cycle race. Detail ...

; from here the summit is at an average gradient of 8.4%. The steepest sections of the climb are at a gradient of 9.6% between and from the summit.

Tour de France

Including 2014, the col has been crossed four times by the

. On the 10th stage of the

2014 Tour de France The 2014 Tour de France was the 101st edition of the race, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The race included 21 stages, starting in Leeds, Yorkshire, United Kingdom, on 5 July and finishing on the Champs-Élysées in Paris on 27 July. The race al ...

Alberto Contador Alberto Contador Velasco (; born 6 December 1982) is a Spanish former professional cyclist. He is one of the most successful riders of his era, winning the Tour de France twice ( 2007, 2009), the Giro d'Italia twice (2008, 2015), and the Vue ...

crashed on the descent from the Col du Platzerwasel, breaking his tibia. After riding on for 20 km, he eventually abandoned the Tour. It will be the final mountain climb in the 2023 Tour de France, in stage 20 on 22 July 2023, before a stage finish nearby at Le Markstein Fellering.

Tour de France Femmes

The col was used on Stage 7 of the

2022 Tour de France Femmes The 2022 Tour de France Femmes (officially Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift) was the first edition of the Tour de France Femmes, one of women's cycling's two grand tours. The race took place from 24 to 31 July 2022, and was the 16th event in the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Platzerwasel, Col du Mountain passes of Grand Est Mountain passes of the Vosges