Brailsford leads GB team in Spain

Cycling: Sir Dave Brailsford will lead the Great Britain team in the Road World Championships later this month, despite relinquishing his performance director role in April to focus solely on his role as Team Sky principal.

The 50-year-old remains close to Shane Sutton, the British Cycling technical director, who will not travel to Ponferrada for the World Championships but focus on the track, with the British Championships taking place in Manchester from September 24 to 28 ahead of the European Championships in Guadeloupe next month.

Horton handed two match-ban

Cricket: Lancashire captain Paul Horton was suspended for the opening two matches of next year’s T20 Blast yesterday for showing dissent to umpires.

Horton apologised for his “unacceptable” actions during the August 23 match against the Birmingham Bears.

“As players we must be aware of our responsibilities as role models, none more so than the captain,” he said.

Jong ‘could be out for months’

Football: Newcastle’s Siem de Jong ended up with a training-ground injury yesterday that could see him out for months.

The Dutchman, who joined the Magpies from Ajax in July, injured his right thigh and will be assessed further next week.

“Initial indications are that he is likely to be out for a number of months,” said the club.

Federer battles into US Open semi-final

Tennis: Roger Federer battled back from two sets down and saved two match points yesterday to make it into the US Open semi-final.

Gael Monfils nearly made it into his second ever grand slam semi, but tired after Federer managed to hang on the third set, eventually taking the match 4-6 3-6 6-4 7-5 6-2.