He had 15 stage wins to his name prior to this year’s Tour, but had yet to finish the gruelling event at the top of the sprint standings.
However, a dominant performance at the head of his team’s HTC-Highroad train in the sprint stages and a stubborn refusal to slip too far off the peloton through the French mountains ensured he wore green from the 11th stage through to the Champs-Elysees.
Supported by a Great Britain team that contained the likes of Bradley Wiggins, David Millar and Geraint Thomas, Cavendish then burst to victory in Denmark to become the first British winner of the world title in 46 years.
“They were the two hardest goals I could possibly set myself in the year, but I had some great guys around me,” he said.
Cavendish’s five stage wins at the 2011 Tour de France moved him to sixth on the all-time list on 20 behind legendary Belgian Eddie Merckx, who has 34, a target Cavendish has in his sights.
“I’m not chasing records, but I have collected an average of five a year so it is definitely doable if things carry on as they have been,” he said.
Breakdown of the vote:
Mark Cavendish 169,152 (49.47%)
Darren Clarke 42,188 (12.34%)
Mo Farah 29,780 (8.71%)
Luke Donald 23,854 (6.98%)
Andy Murray 18,754 (5.48%)
Andrew Strauss 17,994 (5.26%)
Alastair Cook 13,038 (3.81%)
Rory McIlroy 11,915 (3.48%)
Dai Greene 9,022 (2.64%)
Amir Khan 6,262 (1.83%)
