Mark Cavendish today received his MBE from the Queen at Buckingham Palace. The British sprinter was given the honour for 'services to British cycling'.
Cavendish is Britain's most successful ever cyclist and 2011 was his best year so far. He won the green jersey at the Tour de France (winning five stages on the way) and in September won the world road race championships, the first Brit to do so since Tom Simpson in 1965.
Cavendish was one of the few cyclists not to be honoured following the Beijing Olympics in 2008, when all medal winners were recognised. He was the only track cyclist not to win a medal at the last Olympics.