Giro d'Italia: Silvan Dillier takes stage six victory with Geraint Thomas and Adam Yates well placed

Welsh rider Thomas finished 39 seconds back on BMC Racing's Dillier

BMC Racing's Silvan Dillier took his maiden Grand Tour stage win (Getty)

Team Sky's Geraint Thomas remains six seconds off the Giro d'Italia lead after breakaway rider Silvan Dillier won stage six on Thursday.

Welsh rider Thomas finished 39 seconds back on BMC Racing's Dillier in a group containing race leader Bob Jungels (Quick-Step Floors), third-placed Adam Yates (Orica-Scott) and the rest of the general classification contenders.

A five-man breakaway managed to keep clear of the peloton on the 217 kilometre race from Reggio Calabria to Terme Luigiane. Dillier, Jasper Stuyven (Trek Segafredo) and Lukas Postlberger (Bora-Hansgrohe) surged clear of their fellow escapees with five kilometres remaining.

Thomas remains six seconds off the lead (Getty)

Dillier kicked first inside the last 200 metres and managed to hold off Stuyven to take his maiden grand tour stage win. Briton Yates remains 10 seconds behind Jungels, as are former Giro winners Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) and Nairo Quintana (Movistar).

Thomas was pleased to tick off another stage as the GC contenders keep an eye on Sunday's first summit finish.

“It's just a case of getting through these stages,” Thomas told Team Sky's website. “It's always a bit weird on stages like today and yesterday, you're not completely switched on, like you might be on a big GC day. But the legs seem to be okay.

“The break going clear meant it was a bit less stressful, although it was still pretty stressful.”