Here's a close-up look at the Tour de France leader's fast-looking race bike

LUXEMBOURG — After three stages of the Tour de France, Welshman Geraint Thomas of Team Sky leads the race ahead of teammate and overall favorite Chris Froome, the Kenyan-born Briton, by 12 seconds, thanks to his winning ride in the time trial on stage one in Düsseldorf and his superb racing since.

Like Froome, Thomas is riding a carbon-fiber Pinarello Dogma F10 equipped with Shimano's new electronic Dura-Ace component group and C-50 wheels and Continental Pro Ltd tubular tires.

After stage three, Sky mechanics let Business Insider get up close to the Tour leader's bike and take a few photos, which you can see below.

We showed up after mechanics had washed Thomas' bike. It has yellow handlebar tape and saddle as he is the race leader. The other bikes, from left, are those of former world time-trial champion Vasil Kiryienka (No. 3) and defending Tour champ Chris Froome (No. 1).

Thomas' race number is 9 and the "V 1" indicates his number of stage victories so far in the Tour. The Welsh flag is a nice custom touch.

It's a modern-day custom for Tour leaders to add some yellow to their bike. Thomas' bike has yellow tape and saddle. He also has an extender for his computer that helps keep his handlebar tidy.

Thomas rides a long stem and handlebar made by PRO, the component wing of Shimano.

The cables were neatly housed, and there was even some yellow there too ...

The yellow Fizik saddle is a special touch as well ...

Throughout the frame and fork, there are colored lines that add Sky team colors to the matte-black frameset.

Pinarello's E-Link technology integrates the Di2 junction into the frame, allowing Thomas' mechanics to charge and update the electronic-shifting system.

All bikes raced in the Tour must be approved by the world governing body of cycling, the UCI — or at least they're supposed to be.

Sky uses Elite Custom Race Plus water-bottle cages. The yellow is a nice touch.

Thomas' bike was equipped with 11-speed Di2 groupset and 53-39 chainrings. The Tour leader rides 175mm crank arms.

Like the majority of teams at the Tour, Sky is riding Shimano's new Dura-Ace electronic-shifting system, or Di2.

Sky has been on Dogmas for years now and has won four of the past four Tours on the bikes.

The mandatory race transponder, which keeps track of each rider's time, is neatly attached with zip ties.

When it comes to branding, Pinarello doesn't waste real estate.

Sky is a telecommunications and media company. Team Sky has the biggest annual budget in cycling with over $40 million.

The beefy stiff headtube features the artsy Pinarello logo.

Shimano Dura-Ace brakes, which we've ridden a lot, provide smooth stopping power.

Thomas rides Continental Pro Ltd tubular tires.

Another look at the hefty downtube and yellow highlights for the Tour leader.

The oversized, stiff bottom bracket provides excellent power transfer.

Another opportunity to fly the P.

Everything is clean and neat.

Thomas rides Dura-Ace pedals ...

... and the bottom side.

It took some getting used to, but now we really like the look of the fork.

Thomas opts for distinct ergo handlebars versus the rounder classic drop bars.

The yellow does add a nice pop of color to what's nearly a full matte-black machine.

That's a shiny Dura-Ace hub ...

There are plenty of gearing options with this cassette, and all electronically controlled with a click.

While we don't know the exact price of this bike, expect to shell out north of $12,000. And though we don't know the exact weight of Thomas' 56cm bike, we're guessing it's a little over 7 kilos, or a bit over 15 pounds.

The clean, well-lighted mechanics' truck is where Thomas' F10 sleeps at night.

A look on the other side ...

It'll be interesting to see how long Thomas stays in the race lead ... and in yellow.