Sir Bradley Wiggins Receives Knighthood for Services to Cycling

Sir Bradley Wiggins has been knighted by the Queen at Buckingham Palace.

Wiggins, who won gold at the London Olympics and became the first British winner of the Tour de France, was honoured for services to cycling

Describing the investiture ceremony as "humbling" he said the title was an "incredible honour."

"It was quite nerve-wracking actually. I'm still shaking now, to be honest. I mean, it's quite humbling being here," he said.

"I was just talking to some of the other people getting stuff, and asking them what they've been honoured for, and they're historic things, ground-breaking sciences or whatever.

"I've won a bike race, you know, and I feel a little bit inferior to everyone, really," he added.

The 33-year-old, known as Wiggo, was crowned BBC Sports Personality of the Year last year, after winning both the Tour de France and a gold medal in the timed trial at the London 2012 Olympics.

"It's just the end of the road in a sense, in that it tops off the closure of last summer as it were, even though it's more than a year ago, "he said.

Sir Bradley, who lives in Eccleston near Chorley, Lancashire, was joined at Buckingham Palace by his wife and two children.

Among the other personalities honoured by the Queen were British-born Pakistani cricketer Wasim Khan who was appointed an MBE in recognition of his involvement in running the Cricket Foundation's £50m Chance to Shine campaign. The charity aims to boost state school participation in competitive cricket.

Khan was the first British-born Pakistani to play professional cricket in England and played for the record-breaking 1995 Warwickshire team.

Turner Prize-winning artist Sir Anish Kapoor was knighted for his services to visual arts, while Mercury Prize winner singer PJ Harvey was appointed an MBE for services to music.

Two soldiers were also honoured for their courage while serving overseas. Major Matthew Long of the Royal Logistic Corps, received the Queen's Gallantry Medal for his work to defuse incendiary devices in Afghanistan. Warrant Officer class 1 Andreas Peat, of the same regiment, was also honoured for courage in the face of the enemy.