Hoy 'stunned' as public hail great Scot

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Hoy, 32, admitted he had only hoped to coming third in the contest but the triple gold medallist at the Beijing Olympics easily beat Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton and Olympic swimmer Rebecca Adlington.

"I'm absolutely stunned. I must admit I was looking at the betting odds over the last few weeks and I was lagging back in third, Becky and Lewis were the clear favourites," said Hoy who polled 283,630 votes compared to 163,864 for Hamilton and 145,924 for Adlington. "I was hoping for a bronze medal but when I heard Becky's and Lewis' names read out I realised it could be me."

He added: "There have been so many things that have happened since Beijing that you can't take it all in.

"This has to be one of the biggest things I have achieved outside of sport. Any athlete will tell you that this is the one to win in terms of awards.

"Clearly the vote for me tonight was a vote for the whole cycling team. There were four cyclists nominated in the top 10 and they were doing all they could to see a cyclist win."

Hoy is the first Scot to take the award since runner Liz McColgan in 1991, and the only other cyclist was Tommy Simpson in 1965. McColgan had even been campaigning for the public to vote for Hoy.

The cyclist added: "It is a huge honour for our sport, and to be a Scottish winner.

"I remember Liz McColgan winning the [10,000m] world championships in Tokyo in '91 and seeing her win the award. She has been saying some nice things about me in the press and I thank her for that support.

"You think back to when you started off in the sport and now I am sitting here as sports personality of the year, when I have sat and watched the programme all these years, it's crazy."