Mark Cavendish is the Biggest Name in World Cycling

Today Sportsvibe hails Mark Cavendish as Britain's latest sporting hero, even if Cav's triumph yesterday in the Tour de France is hardly an overnight success.

The Manxman became the first ever British winner of the Green Jersey - which denotes the best sprinter in the race - in the history of the Tour de France, and also the first British jersey winner since Robert Millar took home the polka dot in 1984.

In winning yesterday's final stage on the Champs Elysees Cav notched up his 5th stage win of the 2011 Tour, and his 20th - yes 20th - stage win in the past four Tours, making him already one of the all-time greats in the history of the world's most demanding cycle race. 

The smart money now is that next year he will be riding for Team Sky, although the expected move is fraught with potential difficulty. How will Cav fare without his sprint henchman, Aussie Mark Renshaw, and the rest of HTC Colombia who work so hard to set him up for the final kill? How will Cav cope without being the sole centre of attention at Team Sky where Bradley Wiggins will be looking to make up for this year's disappointment - the three time Olympic gold medallist was forced to retire after a crash - by gunning for the podium in 2012? How, indeed, will Cav cope with the possible withdrawal of Team Sky's Team GB Olympic hopefuls for the London Games? And, for that matter, how will Team Sky manage trying to win both a green jersey for Cav and a podium finish in General Classification for Wiggins?

These are all questions, if Cavendish does indeed move from HTC to Team Sky, that will be asked over the course of the next 12 months. Team Sky's Team Principal, Dave Brailsford, who masterminded Britain's stunning success in the velodrome at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, is an unashamed admirer of Cavendish and will, I am sure, attempt to make it all work.

He knows that Cav will be hard work and demanding in his quest for perfection. I spent a day with Cav and HTC last year during the Tour and witnessed him admonishing all and sundry if he felt something was not right. He takes no prisoners but he is also first to praise his teammates.

Perhaps more importantly Mark Cavendish is arguably the biggest name in the Tour de France right now. Cadel Evans, the Australian who finally won the Tour yesterday having finished runner up twice before, may beg to differ, but the feeling was even when Lance Armstrong was in the field, that Cav was the second biggest name in the race. With his electric pace, his greed for stage wins and his willingness to vent his emotions in a public arena regardless of the controversy caused, he has become a sponsor's dream and the jewel in the crown of a sporting spectacle that just, may, be enjoying a renaissance after it's drug-riddled past.