Track sprinter Ryan Owens insists his quick progression through the British Cycling senior set up will be the perfect springboard heading into the TISSOT UCI Track Cycling World Cup in Manchester, this autumn.

This year sees the event return to Manchester for the first time since 2013, when the second round of the 2017-18 series takes place from 10-12 November at the home of British Cycling, where Owens will be looking to defend his 2016 title in the team sprint.

The 21-year-old has seen his career go from strength to strength since his breakthrough onto the senior academy programme last year, that saw him fly to the Rio Olympics as a reserve sprinter.

While he stood in the shadow of Olympic champions Jason Kenny, Philip Hindes and Callum Skinner in Rio, Owens says it was an experience from which he has learnt invaluable lessons.

“Although I didn’t get to ride, I still had my first taste and experience of an Olympic Games and I got to stay in the village and literally did everything that the guys who went on to win gold did, in the build-up,” he said.

“It was a hard experience on the day. I was never expected to ride – I was told a long way out that I’d be a reserve and I was only going to get in if something unfortunate would happen to someone which I was never wishing for.

“But I learnt what it takes at the highest level and peak of your performance with pressure and I came away from it really wanting to hit the winter hard.”

And Owens couldn’t have hit it any harder as he cemented his place in the team sprint for the under-23 European Track Championships in Italy, where he took silver alongside Jack Carlin and Joe Truman, before the formidable trio went on to claim two golds at last year’s UCI Track World Cup, in Glasgow and Apeldorm.

It was a momentous occasion for the young trio, who stepped out of the shadow of their rested Olympic counterparts Phil Hindes, Jason Kenny and Callum Skinner in style to clinch top spot on their World Cup track debut.

And for Owens himself, World Cup success at the first time of asking was a testament to his dramatic rise since his challenging journey through the junior ranks, where he struggled to stake a claim at academy level and dropped out of Loughborough University to devote more time to his cycling career. 

“For about four years I was stuck around the same point – I was never really on the junior GB programmes and when I missed out on academy selection for the first two years of being eligible, I wasn’t able to show much at a young age,” he added. 

“But once I took away the academic stress to focus on my cycling, I really started to see it come together for me and once I had the GB squad behind me, the acceleration was massive.”

And Owens – who’s latest career highlight was debuting at the World Track Championships in Hong Kong earlier this year – is now relishing the opportunity to defend his track title alongside Truman and Carlin at the event at the National Cycling Centre in Manchester, this November.

“I think as a trio – the last home world cup in Glasgow was one of the highlights in our racing so far,” he concluded.

“The support and buzz that we had from the crowd was incredible.

“The Worlds Championships were pretty amazing this year too and the thought of being able to represent Britain again, this time in Manchester, would just be amazing.

“If the crowd in Manchester is as good as the one in Glasgow – which I’m sure it will be based on how many tickets have already been sold – it will be an incredible experience and hopefully it can top it.”

On November 10-12, incredible riders like Ryan Owens will compete on the Manchester Velodrome in one of the most anticipated events on the track cycling calendar. Buy your ticketshttp://www.trackworldcup.co.uk/tickets/