German cycling official apologises over 'get the camel drivers' comments

Patrick Moster, the sporting director of the German cycling federation (BDR), has been forced to apologise after he was caught on camera making racist remarks during the men's Olympic road time trial.

"Get the camel drivers, get the camel drivers, come on," said the German official on Wednesday as he urged his rider Nikias Arndt, who was chasing opponents Algeria's Azzedine Lagab and Eritrea's Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier during his time trial effort.

READ MORE: Algerian judo player quits Olympics to shun Israeli opponent

Moster invokes 'heat of the moment'

On German TV, ARD commentator Florian Nass was left stunned, describing the comments as "totally wrong".

"Words fail me," he added. "Something like that has no place in sport."

Moster has since apologised for his comments, which he said were made in the "heat of the moment".

"I was in the feed zone and cheered on Nikias Arndt," he told German DPA news agency.

"In the heat of the moment and with the overall burden that we have here at the moment, my choice of words was not appropriate," he said.

"I am extremely sorry and can only offer my sincere apologies. I didn't want to offend anyone," he added.

Arndt finished the time trial in 19th place, three minutes and 45 seconds behind Slovenia's gold medalist Primoz Roglic.

READ MORE: Tokyo Games ceremony director dismissed over past comments on Holocaust