British sprinting starlet Lauren Bate may have missed out on a medal in front of a home crowd but the teenager believes she leaves the London leg of the TISSOT UCI Track Cycling World Cup a cannier rider.

Bate bagged her first senior medal on the world stage after helping England to team sprint Commonwealth bronze on the Gold Coast in April.

However, there was no return to the podium for the 19-year-old as she was edged out of the individual sprint by Chinese star Tianshi Zhong on Saturday.

Bate and Katy Marchant also finished ninth in the team event qualifying, but the Billinge speedster insists she is richer from the experience of pushing close a rival who was part of the Olympic gold winning team sprint trio from Rio 2016.

“I’m a little bit disappointed, you’re never going to be happy to lose but this is the fourth World Cup of the series, so I’m going to be a bit tired,” said Bate.

“I’m trying to get bits out of it as I got along. I’m still young and I’m not the fastest here, so I’m just trying to learn as much as I can.

“I feel like I’ve ridden quite well, I’ve raced quite well and that’s all I can ask for.

“Tactically, I think that was one of the best sprints I’ve ever ridden, so I can take a lot from that – as well as learning how to deal with the ups and downs.

“It was really nice to be so close to a rider who was much, much faster than me and I wasn’t intimidated by it.

“You’ll have some good World Cups and some disappointing World Cups and it’s learning to deal with to every race going perfectly.”

While there was no place on the rostrum this time for Bate, her career is very much in front of her, and she admitted sampling the fervent support of the London faithful on such a prominent stage was a moment to treasure.

“It’s always been my dream to race in front of a home crowd and when you’re riding round and everyone’s clapping for you, it’s such an amazing feeling, it’s so good,” she added.

“That’s a lot to take away for me.”

The next TISSOT UCI Track Cycling World Cup on UK boards takes place at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow from 8-10 November 2019. Sign up now at bit.ly/NextStopGlasgow to access tickets before they go on sale to the general public.

Image credit: SWpix