So, not counting a race in Himalaya, there are ~~4~~, no 5! overlapping races this week in Europe, dividing the start lists.
Tour of Poland π΅π±: WT, Aug 4 to 8
For the second year in a row, this tour as changed from a flat race into a hilly / medium-altitude mountain race to address criticism and safety concerns. However teams are still considering and turning it into a sprinters' race (punchers' race at best).
Official website: https://www.tourdepologne.pl/en/
PCS page: https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/tour-de-pologne/2025
Vuelta a Burgos πͺπΈ: class .Pro, Aug 5 to 9
A balanced tour (meant as a preparation for the Tour of Spain) whose winner is however determined by one or two mountain stages.
Official website (in Spanish): https://www.vueltaburgos.com/es/
PCS page: https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/vuelta-a-burgos/2025
Watchable on the website of the local Spanish TV: https://www.cyltv.es/live/La8Burgos (try after 3 PM)
Tour de l'Ain π«π·: class .1, Aug 6 to 8
A 3 days mountain race.
Official website (in French): https://tourdelain.com/la-course/
PCS page: https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/tour-de-l-ain/2025
Arctic race of Norway π³π΄: class .Pro, Aug 7 to 10
Depending on the year, this race tales in different areas in Norway, not necessarily above the Arctic circle. This year it is between the Lofoten islands and TromsΓΈ. The winner is usually determined by one or two punchy final climbs.
Official website: https://www.arctic-race-of-norway.com/en/
PCS page: https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/arctic-race-of-norway/2025
The first part of the Tour of Portugal π΅πΉ, class .1, Aug 6 to 17
A race for mopeds.
Official website: https://volta-portugal.com/
PCS page: https://www.procyclingstats.com/race/volta-a-portugal/2025
There was also the Tour of Guadeloupe (French island in West Indies), a farcical 2.2.
In this video https://x.com/LeGruppetto/status/1952995645058388165 , the 2^nd^ in GC has a puncture and stops. Then he realises he's fucked, because his car has gone ahead of the peloton. A teammate rides backwards, which is completely forbidden, to give him his wheel. But they can't remove the wheels because of the bloody disc brakes wheels without fast locks, and they haven't got a key either. So the leader takes the bike of his teammate and goes. But there's something he doesn't like, or perhaps he was radioed that someone came with a key,and now he's riding backwards too! That's even better than Vingegaard and Visma's mess. Epilogue not on video: he magically caught up with the peloton. The magic (the help of a car) owed him a 1 minute penalty.
In this one, https://x.com/CyclingLegend_/status/1952290921707655271 , one rider is pulled by his car. Very classical. A couple of riders received a 5 minutes penalty! (I didn't know it was possible to give such large time penalties.)
More original, https://la1ere.franceinfo.fr/guadeloupe/tour-cycliste-de-guadeloupe-2025-c-est-tres-grave-2-coureurs-exclus-pour-avoir-rejoint-le-peloton-sans-faire-tout-le-parcours-de-la-2e-etape-sous-les-yeux-du-commissaire-1610574.html : 2 Dutch riders (Niels Tenniglo and Huub Van Kapel) have taken a shortcut (or most likely stopped in a place where the course will come back after making a 30 km loop), and are hiding behind a car on the roadside, waiting for the peloton to arrive and attempt to blend in. They have been disqualified.
One day, ahead of the race, 4 publicity cars crashed into each other. It created a massive traffic jam, and when the riders came, there were cars parked on both side of the motorway, as not all of the traffic could have been evacuated yet.