Cycling-Riders protest over safety at Tour of Basque Country

MADRID, April 7 (Reuters) - Riders at the Tour of the Basque Country delayed the start of the second stage on Tuesday in a protest over safety after a pileup late in Monday's opening stage in Bilbao left several racers needing hospital treatment. The five-minute protest was organised by the Association of Professional Cyclists (CPA), who were incensed that a series of green metal poles that caused the crash had been marked out only by placing an orange traffic cone on top of them. "With this action, the CPA, which has always been pushing for more safety for riders, wants to focus the attention of the organisers, the UCI (International Cycling Union) and the media on this important issue," the association said. There were no serious incidents in Tuesday's stage, with Italian Trek rider Fabio Felline winning a sprint finish and Australian Michael Matthews of Orica coming in second and retaining the overall lead in the seven-day event in northern Spain. Safety at cycling races has been in the news in recent days after two riders had to abandon the Tour of Flanders on Sunday following incidents involving crashes with neutral service cars. (Reporting by Iain Rogers, editing by Toby Davis)