Cavendish voted BBC sports personality of the year

Cavendish took the green jersey for the best sprinter at this year’s Tour where he took his overall tally to 20 stage wins and moved up to sixth on the all-time list.

He was the first British cyclist to win the green jersey, and then became his country’s first male road race world champion in Denmark.

The 26-year-old Cavendish is the first road cyclist to win the annual award since Tommy Simpson in 1965.

“This is a landmark for cycling,” he said. “For cycling to be recognized in a non-Olympic year is unheard of.”

Cavendish received 49 percent of the public votes to win by a significant margin ahead of second-place Darren Clarke, who had 12 percent after winning the British Open for his first golf major.