Ian Drake, the man who has overseen the most successful period in cycling'>British Cycling’s history, has announced his decision to step down as the governing body’s chief executive.

He will officially leave the post in April 2017, and declared that he made the decision to resign after the 2016 Olympic in Rio “some time ago”.

Under his stewardship, the sport has experienced unrivalled elite success with Team GB dominating the velodrome at both the London 2012 Olympics, and the most recent edition of the Games a few months ago.

Great Britain achieved 15 cycling medals in Rio, slightly up on the 12 won in 2012.

However, Drake’s achievements reach beyond the velodrome with the sport seeing significant grassroots growth since he was appointed in his role eight years ago.

According to Sport England, more than 2m people are cycling once a week, with British Cycling membership growing from 25,000 in 2008 to 129,000 now. The number of female members has grown by “700 per cent”.

Over that period, 24 new cycling facilities have been built and seven refurbished, while the number of grassroots cycle sport events has doubled over the eight-year period.

Drake said he was “privileged” to have worked for the organisation.

“All organisations, particularly those operating at the highest level of sport, periodically require new leadership to take them to greater heights and tackle their new challenges – now is the right moment for both myself and British Cycling to move on,” he added.

The British Cycling board will no search for Drake’s successor.