British Cycling has announced the first 50 “cycling heroes” to be inducted into its new Hall of Fame, formed to celebrate the 50 years that the organisation has been the national governing body for cycling.

The initiative was launched earlier in the year and British Cycling has received 300 nominations from the public. The Hall of Fame panel – which included Guardian’s Cycling Correspondent William Fotheringham, Cycling Weekly’s Editor Robert Garbutt, current Olympic and World Champion Victoria Pendleton MBE, British Cycling’s Executive Director Peter King CBE and Cycling Commentator Hugh Porter MBE – has whittled the list down to 50.

“We made a conscious decision not to select elite riders who are still competing at an international level or coaches and managers at the top of their game,” said Pendleton. We also agreed we should recognise administrators and volunteers who have been active in the sport over many years and have made a significant contribution to it during that time. There have also been several posthumous awards.”

“The response we’ve had from the public for the Hall of Fame has been phenomenal,” said British Cycling’s President, Brian Cookson OBE, who chaired the panel, “and choosing just 50 individuals out of over a hundred proved very challenging. With such a fantastic number of nominations this year we have decided to make the Hall of Fame an annual event to enable us to recognise more recent and current cycling successes.”

The list of 50 names will be inducted into the Hall of Fame at British Cycling’s 50th Anniversary Gala Dinner in Manchester on February 20th.

The 50 cycling heroes are as follows (listed alphabetically):

Pat Adams
Caroline Alexander
Brian Annable
David Baker
Sid Barras
Stuart Benstead
Chris Boardman MBE
Bill Bradley
Beryl Burton OBE
Keith Butler
Arthur Campbell MBE
Brian Cossavella
Doug Dailey MBE
Tony Doyle MBE
Ian Emmerson OBE
Malcolm Elliott
Benny Foster OBE
Tim Gould
Eileen Gray CBE
Dave Hemsley
Barry Hoban
Dale Holmes
Mandy Jones
Peter Keen OBE
Peter King CBE
Stan Kite
Phil Liggett MBE
Craig Maclean
Paul Manning MBE
John & Doreen Mallinson
Yvonne McGregor MBE
Gerry McDaid
Jason McRoy
Chas Messenger
George Millar
Robert Millar
Graeme Obree
Hugh Porter MBE
Jason Queally MBE
John Rawnsley
Brian Robinson
Alan Rushton
Tom Simpson
Eddie Soens
Colin Sturgess
Dot Tilbury MBE
Graham Webb
Les West
Sean Yates
Tony Yorke OBE