The cycling legend, Chris Hoy, has followed up his success at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards ceremony by being named in the New Year’s Honours list.

The cyclist, who is thirty-two years of age, will receive a knighthood as recognition of his success at the Olympics last year. Hoy won a total of three gold medals in Beijing. The Scottish cyclist revealed that being named on the list was a “huge honour” and extremely “unexpected”. Furthermore, Hoy believes that it is the perfect way "to end the year”.

Hoy’s delight was intensified by the fact that his mother was appointed MBE (which her son achieved in 2005) in recognition of her work as a nurse in Edinburgh. Hoy’s mother, who revealed that she was “blown away” by her son’s achievements, worked in a sleep lab which has performed many studies and released important new research during recent years.

The typically modest cyclist was keen to emphasise the importance of his achievement for the wider world of cycling in the UK. Hoy believes that he has always done what he can to “promote the sport” because he has such a passion for it. He now thinks that the consequences of his knighthood will have a positive impact upon the sport.

Sporting experts believe that the knighthood will propel Hoy to another level of fame and increase attention from companies keen to put his face at the forefront of their advertising campaigns. His income from sponsors is set to rise massively over the next few months.