Mark Cavendish favourite to win the BBC award after receiving MBE from the Queen
Mark Cavendish has become one of the most famous men in Britain over a short span of time, following his win at the UCI World Road Race Championships 2011. He collected his MBE from the second Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace on December 1, 2011.
Cavendish also managed to secure the green jersey at the Tour de France 2011, along with five stage wins at the event. He won stage 5, stage 7 stage 11, stage 15 and stage 21 at the French Grand Tour, making a total number of 20 stage wins at the event.
He became the first British cyclist to win the points classifications at the Tour de France ever. He was notified of receiving the honour on June 11, in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list.
The 26-year-old commented after being chosen for MBE, "It is a massive honour for me to be recognised like this - it is not often that a cyclist is honoured without winning an Olympic medal”.
He further added that, "Cycling is growing and I am more known now, but I don't do this for any celebrity status, I do it for the love of the sport. To know that cycling is getting recognised makes me massively proud".
Mark started his professional career in 2005 with Team Sparkasse and stayed with the team for a period of two years.
He then joined T-Mobile Team from 2006 to 2011 and has signed up with British Team Sky for the 2012 season.
He has also been shortlisted for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award 2012, during its 58th year of celebration.
The event will be broadcasted live on BBC One and Cavendish is one of the strongest candidates on the list.
The list of ten sportsmen who have been shortlisted for the award includes three golf players, Darren Clarke, Luke Donald and Rory Mcllroy.
Two cricketers are also on the list, they are: Alastair Cook and Andrew Strauss. The young British boxer, Amir Khan is also amongst the favourites to win the title.
Mo Farah and Dai Greene are the two athletic games candidates, with Andy Murray representing the sport of tennis, all are likely title claimers.
Cavendish is the only cyclist on the list and it is expected that the award will be handed over to the Manxman during the ceremony scheduled to take place on December 22nd 2011.
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