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| - Belgian Tim Merlier won Saturday's stage six of the Tirreno-Adriatico as Briton Simon Yates held on the race leader's blue jersey. Merlier finished the ride between Castelfidardo and Senigallia ahead of German Pascal Ackermann, winner of the first two stages, and Dane Magnus Cort Nielsen. With just two stages left to race, Yates stands 16 seconds ahead of Poland's Rafal Majka in the overall standings, with Welshman Geraint Thomas, the winner of the 2018 Tour de France, 39sec adrift. "There was a headwind down the home straight, so the sprint was quite messy, but the day in general was good for us," said Yates, whose twin brother Adam held the Tour de France's yellow jersey for four days earlier in this year's race. Sunday's penultimate stage is a 181km run from Pieve Torina to Loreto with a number of short, sharp climbs. "I think tomorrow will be very hard and difficult to control," Yates added. "I'm sure there will be some action and some guys will try to take some time, but we will try to deal with it as best we can. We have a strong team here so I hope to defend the jersey well." smr/lp/mw/iwd
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