Wiggins followed his Tour de France victory by winning the individual time trial at the London Olympic Games.
UCI WorldTour winner, Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) finished third off the back of his victories at La Flèche Wallonne and Il Lombardia, as well as podiums at the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España. 2011 Vélo d'Or winner Philippe Gilbert was fourth.
The Velo d'Or Français, the award for the best French rider, was taken out by Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) for the third successive season. The 33-year-old won two stages along with the mountains classification att the Tour de France. Voeckler finished ahead of mountain bike world champion and Olympic gold medallist Julie Bresset, with Arnaud Démare and Thibaut Pinot tied for third place.
Thirteen journalists from around the world are polled annually with the prize being awarded by Vélo magazine since 1992. Wiggins is the first British rider to have won the award.
2012 Vélo d'Or: 1. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) 2. Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) 3. Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) 4. Philippe Gilbert (BMC) 5. Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale)
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Previous Velo d'Or winners - 1992: Miguel Indurain 1993: Miguel Indurain 1994: Tony Rominger 1995: Laurent Jalabert 1996: Johan Museeuw 1997: Jan Ullrich 1998: Marco Pantani 1999: Lance Armstrong 2000: Lance Armstrong 2001: Lance Armstrong 2002: Mario Cipollini 2003: Lance Armstrong 2004: Lance Armstrong 2005: Tom Boonen 2006: Paolo Bettini 2007: Alberto Contador 2008: Alberto Contador 2009: Alberto Contador 2010: Fabian Cancellara 2011: Philippe Gilbert
