Arise Sir Bradley! Campaign grows for cycling champion to be knighted To be the first person in 109 years to win the Tour de France is an immense feat of physical and mental ability and aptitude and I think the whole country wants to say well done, brilliant, the perfect backdrop and start to the Olympics. Boris Johnson, himself a champion of cycling, said his "inspirational performance" would encourage thousands of others to take to two wheels. "Huge congratulations must go to Bradley Wiggins," the London mayor said. His incredible determination, focus and will to win blew away the rest of the field and propelled this legendary Londoner to the summit of his sport. Wiggins's wife Catherine, who was at the finish line in the French capital with their two young children, declared that it was now time to drink as much champagne as possible. Their daughter Bella, five, spoke for the nation when she said: "We need to give Daddy a high five don't we." Thousands of British fans were in Paris to witness Wiggins seal victory, decking the Champs-Elysees in a sea of Union flags and "Allez Wiggo" banners. James Pryer, from Newcastle, said: "This is the proudest day of my life. Bradley has made us all hugely proud to come from a country like Britain. Wiggins was awarded an OBE in 2005 for services to cycling after winning gold, silver and bronze medals at the 2004 Olympics. In January, he admitted with trademark honesty that a few years ago he had been desperate for such recognition. Now, he claimed, he would be happy to be offered a knighthood and turn it down. "I can never imagine myself being a Sir," he said. It just wouldn't be me going into the local pub. However, as he crossed the finish line, pumping his fists in the air, it became apparent that the demand for national recognition would be hard to ignore. Twitter was awash with demands for a knighthood while others called for him to be given the honour of lighting the Olympic flame in Friday's opening ceremony, Bookmakers slashed the odds of Wiggins being honoured this year to 4-7 and by the end of 2013 to 2-1 and declared him a "shoe-in" for Sports Personality of the Year. On his future earnings, Max Clifford, the PR expert who represented Sir Chris Hoy after he won four Olympic golds, said "the sky was the limit" for a great role model who had gone from "comparative obscurity to superstardom" in the space of just a fortnight. "It is such a major event in Europe and in terms of endorsement, advertising and sponsorship and so on the whole of Europe is at his feet," he said. In the next couple of years we are talking ten or twenty million pounds. He comes across as a really good guy. He's shown great sportsmanship as well and he's become a hero as well as a champion. You put that combination together, and we don't have that many in this country, and you can see the earning potential and the star potential.