World road champion Mark Cavendish has been named as one of the 10 athletes shortlisted for the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year award.
Not only that, but the Tour de France green jersey holder has been installed as the early favourite to pick up the prestigious gong. He's currently 5/4 in the betting, some distance ahead of the second favourite, Northern Irish golfer and current Open Champion Darren Clarke. The public will decide the eventual winner; voting opens on Friday and the athlete receiving the most votes will be crowned during a live show on Thursday 22 December.
In the run-up to the show, British Cycling will be conducting a social media campaign to highlight the Manxman’s achievements. They're asking all his fans to use the hash tag #CAV4SPOTY when discussing it on Twitter.
Others on the shortlist are Alastair Cook (cricket), Luke Donald (golf), Mo Farah (athletics), Dai Greene (athletics), Amir Khan (boxing), Rory McIlroy (golf), Andy Murray (tennis) and Andrew Strauss (cricket).
Surprisingly, no women have made the final cut, which was put together by sports experts from British newspapers and magazines. Triathlete Chrissie Wellington featured in a number of top 10s, as did track cyclists Victoria Pendleton and Shanaze Reade but all three failed to gain enough nominations to make the final cut.
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Cav talks to Cyclingnews about his green jersey win at the Tour de France...
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...and his plans for 2012
