Mark Cavendish wins BBC SPOTY

World road race champion and Tour de France green jersey winner Mark Cavendish has been voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

The 26-year-old is only the second road cyclist to win the award after Tommy Simpson claimed the prize in 1965.

Cavendish could be Britain's first medallist of the London Olympics in the road race on the opening Saturday.

Golfer Darren Clarke, who triumphed at the Open, was second with world 5,000m champion athlete Mo Farah third.

Cavendish won five stages of this year's Tour de France - including the final time trial in Paris - to clinch the green jersey awarded to the race's best sprinter for the first time.

The Manxman followed that success by confirming Britain's emergence as a major nation in road and well as track cycling by taking gold at the world championships in Copenhagen in September.

He was awarded an MBE in November for his services to cycling and won the Sports Journalists' Association sportsman of the year award in December.

Cavendish 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 train in the the sprint stages and a stubborn refusal to slip too far off the peloton through the French mountains ensured he wore the 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.

"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.

In the night's other awards England's cricket team were named Team of the Year, with their coach Andy Flower winning the Coach of the Year award.

World number one tennis player Novak Djokovic, winner of three of the year's four Grand Slams, won the Overseas Sports Personality of the Year, while teenage golfer Lauren Taylor scooped the Young Sports Personality award.

Athletics coaches Janice Eaglesham and Ian Mirfin won the BBC Sports Unsung Hero award.

Former rower Sir Steve Redgrave won the Lifetime Achievement award, while Bob Champion was handed the Helen Rollason Award.

CAVENDISH'S 2011

Giro d'Italia - Two stage wins

Tour de France - Five stage wins

Tour of Britain - Two stage wins

World Championship road race winner

Sportswomen criticise BBC SPOTY List

Some of Britain's top sports stars have criticised the absence of women from the BBC Sports Personality of the Year shortlist.

The list of 10 contenders was put together by a panel of 27 sports editors from national and regional newspapers and magazines.

Rebecca Adlington, one of those to miss out, expressed her dismay.

"There's been some great sportswomen like Keri-Anne Payne, it's sad they are not recognised," she wrote on Twitter.

"Hopefully next year can be all women nominations after [the] London 2012 [Olympics]."

It is the first time since voting for Sports Personality of the Year changed in 2006 that a woman has not been on the shortlist.

The 10 contenders in 2011 are (in alphabetical order): Mark Cavendish (cycling), Darren Clarke (golf), Alastair Cook (cricket), Luke Donald (golf), Mo Farah (athletics), Dai Greene (athletics), Amir Khan (boxing), Rory McIlroy (golf), Andy Murray (tennis), Andrew Strauss (cricket).

A public phone vote will decide the winner during the Sports Personality of the Year show on BBC One, which will be broadcast live from 2000 GMT on Thursday, 22 December.

The last female winner of the annual award was equestrian star Zara Phillips, who won the award in 2006 after claiming individual gold and team silver at the World Equestrian Games.

Adlington, who was third in the 2008 competition and won gold in the 800m at the World Swimming Championships in China earlier this year, earned six votes, one fewer than Khan, who made it on to the list, while Payne, another swimmer, achieved five votes.

Chrissie Wellington, who won her fourth Ironman world championship title in October, has also criticised the make-up of the list.

"No women in @bbcspoty top ten," she wrote on Twitter. "Its not about me, its about the need to celebrate achievements of so many female GBR athletes. Disgraceful."

A statement from BBC Sportsaid: "The panel consists of the sport editors of the nationals, selected regionals and magazines. These are selected because they cover a wide range of sport throughout the year. It is left up to each publication how they vote.

"This is the same voting system that has been used since 2006 and that, every year until now, has produced at least two women in the shortlist of 10. The decisions are based on sporting achievement and, in the opinion of that panel, this year has been stronger for those on the shortlist than other sports stars who have been omitted."

Keri-Anne Payne won gold in the 10k open water event at the World Championships and was named as the first member of the 2012 British Olympic team.

She wrote on Twitter: "Thanks for all your lovely tweets. It is a shame there are no women on the #SPOTY list but good luck to the boys though! We don't need awards just the support from the Great British public! So keep it coming."

Gail Emms, who won silver in the mixed doubles badminton at the 2004 Olympics, said she was annoyed that the likes of Adlington, Payne and Wellington had not made the list.

"Where are our WORLD CHAMPION women?" she wrote on Twitter."Think that sportsmen and women should vote.

"Get the true feelings of the athletes who know what it's like to win medals and be number one."

Kate Walsh, England and Great Britain hockey captain, told BBC Berkshire that female sportswomen were owed an apology.

"If there had been no female world champions or outstanding performances this year then we'd understand but that just isn't the case.

"What we want is an apology and fairness."

Paralympic champion Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson believes that it highlights problems in the coverage of women's sport.

"I wouldn't want tokenism and I wouldn't want a woman to be on the list just because she was a woman," she said.

"But I think you just look at where the nominations have come from and that highlights another problem really - only 2% of media coverage in sport goes to women."

Thompson added that women "just aren't on the minds" of editors or producers.

"You're fighting against the system all the time," she said. "It's the big sports all the time that get the recognition."

Dai Greene, the World, European and Commonwealth 400m champion, said he thought there should have been a woman on the shortlist.

"It's disappointing that there's no women on the list," he said. "If you were to substitute a few female world champions for a few of the guys on the list, I don't think anyone would have complained at all."

Lord Coe, who won the award in 1979, expressed his surprise that no women are on the list.

He said: "We have had Rebecca Adlington winning a world title in the world swimming championships, we have had other women world champions this year too.

The Manchester Evening News also attracted controversy for selecting the likes of Dimitar Berbatov, Yaya Toure and Patrick Vieira.

Sports editor Peter Spencer said: "The rules are, for starters, that you can nominate people who have predominantly plied their trade, i.e. sport, in this country. That's why Berbatov, for instance, is in because he scored the most goals for Manchester United when they won their record title.

"Yaya Toure has been selected by me - he scored those two significant goals for Manchester City at Wembley when they won their first trophy for 35 years, the FA Cup.

"Patrick Vieira, the most controversial of all, has lived in this country for well over a decade. He's done some grand work for City on the community side of things. I think he's a great ambassador."