AN independent investigation into the culture of British Cycling has finished but the publication of its report is still a month away.

The five-person review panel, led by British Rowing chair Annamarie Phelps, has sent its report to British Cycling and UK Sport, the agency that funds elite sport, and it will now be considered by both organisations' boards.

UK Sport's next board meeting is on February 2, a Thursday, and the following week is the year-to-go milestone for the 2018 Winter Olympics.

This means the first possible chance to release the report publicly, with a media conference, will be the week commencing February 13.

In a statement released to Press Association Sport, a UK Sport spokesperson said: "UK Sport and British Cycling have now received the report from the Independent Review Panel into the climate and culture within the World Class Programme of British Cycling.

"The respective commissioning bodies of UK Sport and British Cycling are now reviewing the report and the panel's recommendations which will be discussed with each respective organisation's boards with a view to publishing the findings and recommendations and a responding statement.

"We are endeavouring to complete this process as soon as is practicable to allow for proper and due consideration of the report."

The review was set up last April following claims that former technical director Shane Sutton made sexist remarks to European track cycling champion Jess Varnish and used derogatory language in relation to para-cyclists.

The 59-year-old Australian - who denies the allegations - was promptly suspended by British Cycling but then resigned a day later, with the review being announced two days after that.

An internal British Cycling investigation, led by board member Alex Russell, found Sutton guilty of referring to female riders as "bitches" but cleared him of eight other charges.

This verdict left both Sutton and Varnish furious, with the former claiming vindication and the latter starting legal action to force British Cycling to release the details of its investigation and the documents related to her acrimonious release from the team.

Sutton, who has repeatedly protested his innocence, was also cleared of alleged financial wrongdoing by a different British Cycling-led investigation.

The review led by Phelps, though, is broader as it has looked at what UK Sport has described as the "culture" of the Manchester-based sport since 2008, a period that has seen unprecedented levels of success in terms of medals and grass-roots participation growth.

A Freedom of Information inquiry by Press Association Sport has revealed that the panel contacted approximately 200 current and former athletes from the Olympic and Paralympic squads, with requests for information also going to all the coaches and support staff, too.

This brought in more than 80 submissions, with almost 60 individuals asking for personal interviews. Sutton had his just days before the start of the Rio Olympics and it lasted five hours.

But the huge amount of information the panel gathered has led to a considerable delay in producing the report, with the initial target of publication by last autumn overshot by three months.

Joining Phelps on the panel were Southbank Centre artistic director Jude Kelly, former England rugby union head coach Stuart Lancaster, leading sports lawyer John Mehrzad and former GB hockey player Annie Panter.