Marcel Kittel selfie: David McCarthy apologises for taking picture with collapsed cyclist

McCarthy's selfie resulted in a storm of criticism over his actions

A junior cyclist has apologised for taking a selfie with German sprint specialist Marcel Kittel when he collapsed to the ground with exhaustion immediately after his Giro d'Italia stage win in Dublin

A junior cyclist has apologised for taking a selfie with German sprint specialist Marcel Kittel when he collapsed to the ground with exhaustion immediately after his Giro d'Italia stage win in Dublin.

David McCarthy faced a barrage of criticism after posting the picture on his Instagram account, with the caption: “Kittel collapsed after the line today so instead of giving him a hand up I took a selfie”.

After taking the picture McCarthy, a member of the Nicolas Roche performance team, found himself in the midst of a twitter storm, which included an unimpressed tweet from Irish star Nicolas Roche himself.

Roche appeared to soften his view on the photo however, later adding: "He is a nice kid. He has just send me this post to tweet" followed by a picture of the apology.

McCarthy's message reads: "To Marcel and the people I offended by taking the selfie I apologise. I did not think the photo would cause such hate towards me and cause offence.

"I got excited after the finish to see Marcel and wanted a photo and in hindsight looking back I understand the time and place was complete wrong. My sincere apologies."

Kittel replied over Twitter: “Guess you learned your lesson. So did I when my Grandma found me playing with fireworks next to our barn full with dry hay. Oh and remember: social media can be mean… ;)”.