The Commission has been introduced as part of British Cycling's 39-point action plan, which was announced last March by former chairman Jonathan Browning.

It came after Browning admitted the organisation "failed" athletes on its world-class performance programme following accusations of sexism and bullying which led to an independent review.

The review was initiated last year following former technical director Shane Sutton's resignation from his role, amid accusations of sexual discrimination against track athlete Jess Varnish.

The action plan included a section concerning athlete "whole life development, management and well-being", with increasing athlete representation in the organisation a goal.

"Identify and introduce an appropriate mechanism for athlete representation to the senior management in consultation with athlete body understanding that athlete voice on strategic matters needs to be heard and understood at board level, too," the plan stated.

It added: "Develop an engagement process to hear and take account of the views of all athletes (male/female; Para/non-disabled; all disciplines), to explore current athlete views on the nature of the relationship between Great Britain Cycling Team management, staff and athletes, and to make recommendations."

The new Commission includes 16 riders, with representation from across the track, road, BMX and Para-sport programmes.

Men's Para-cycling track sprint rider Pete Mitchell has been named as chair of the Commission, which he claims has already had an impact.

"The RRC is really important to us as riders and we've already seen some tangible improvements since its inception," he said.

"However, what we all value the most is having a direct communication chain with the Great Britain Cycling Team senior leadership team as we are now feeling more connected with the operational running of our team.

"This year, we're really focusing on setting up the Commission, so there's still some work to do around encouraging representation from across the disciplines and agreeing our terms of reference.

"We have a quarterly meeting where we run through a set agenda, and then we feedback to the senior leadership team the week after.

"It's a refreshing improvement to our team culture and has gone a long way to break down the 'us vs. them' mentality that many felt previously existed."

The Commission also includes track endurance riders Katie Archibald, Elinor Barker, Ed Clancy, Ellie Dickinson and Kian Emadi, as well as sprinters Sophie Capewell, Katy Marchant, Ryan Owens and Callum Skinner.

Road cyclists Alice Barnes and Mel Lowther are also on the Commission, as well as BMX rider Quillan Isidore and Para-track sprinters Neil Fachie, Helen Scott and Sophie Thornhill.

"The purpose of the RRC is to represent the views of the riders to British Cycling's board, the executive leadership team and Great Britain Cycling Team's senior leadership team," said Stephen Park, British Cycling's performance director.

"This will help to ensure that all areas of British Cycling can best support the riders' needs, be directly informed about the rider experience and ensure the views of the riders are being heard with the relevant actions being considered.

"Ensuring athletes have a voice in the decision making process across all the Olympic and Paralympic sports is high on UK Sport's agenda and I'm pleased we have been able make good progress in establishing our own Commission.

"When I started in this role in May 2017, I was keen to implement a 'leader-leader' management style within the team where staff and riders feel more empowered and accountable for programme activities.

"In this regard, the RRC allows the riders to contribute to our strategic decision-making and have their voices heard on a wide range of topics.

"Essentially, the riders have been empowered to provide input on decisions that affect them, such as equipment design and provision; major competition planning and team selections to name just a couple of examples.

"It's been great to see Pete Mitchell take on the role of chairman and engage with the riders from across the majority of the cycling disciplines to form this Commission.

"With the support of UK Sport, the British Athletes Commission and our own performance lifestyle advisors, we have been able to support the riders as they develop the RRC and they are now providing valuable insight into our decision-making processes."

Former British Cycling chairman Browning, who introduced the action plan, has now departed the organisation entirely.

He announced he would stand down as chairman on December 1 and withdraw his candidacy for the independent role having deemed a "new leader" was required.

The independent chairman post was created following changes agreed by British Cycling's National Council at their Extraordinary General Meeting last year, to ensure compliance with the code of sports governance.

Frank Slevin, the executive chair of British department store group House of Fraser, was named as the independent chairman last month.

While Browning was initially due to return to his previous role as a non-executive director on the British Cycling board, he has now decided to stand down from that position.

"After three years as a volunteer on the British Cycling board as an independent non-executive director and chair, the time is now right for me to step away to devote more time to other interests and commitments, and indeed to give the new chair the space to develop his own board," he said.

"When I was asked to assume the role of chair, British Cycling was in the depths of a crisis which required a rapid and wholesale transformation.

"British Cycling has significantly moved on from the people, behaviours and structures that led to the failures for which the organisation has been publicly held to account.

"It is essential that the new team maintains the pace of change and completes the transformation.

"I am pleased that I am able to leave British Cycling in a much stronger position than a year ago, with new structures and processes implemented, a new chief executive, a new performance director, a new independent chair, and with the major foundations in place for a successful future."