De Francesco has been pursuing a program that has been gradually focussing more and more on cycling in recent years, and it appears to be paying dividends with the 28-year-old taking a dominant National Road Series (NRS) win in Brisbane CBD. It wasn't the absolute strongest field to normal NRS standards due to COVID travel restrictions to Queensland, but it still had names like national road race silver-medallist Justine Barrow, perennial contender Emily Herfoss (both Roxsolt-Attaquer) and Herald Sun Tour podium finisher Jaime Gunning (Specialized Women's Racing).
“It was a reduced field with COVID and all the quarantines, so it was very like all the Queensland races that I’ve been doing with a few extra good girls in there like Justine Barrow, said de Francesco.
“About 10-15 minutes in they turned us around randomly and said we had to head back to Coot-tha, we were meant to head all the way out before climbing… then it was 105km rather than the 90km we rolled out for. That was a bit of a surprise for us all, had me wondering if I had enough food, but luckily I was stocked up and ready for anything.”
The problem had started with the men's race being directed onto Mt Coot-tha rather than heading out for the long loop around the outlying areas of Brisbane, then impacting the women's race which had started five minutes after the men in the midst of the mass participation rides of the larger festival. It meant that there would by three ascents of Mt Coot-tha, the imposing 2.2 kilometre ascent at a very steep 8.6 per cent average the centrepiece challenge for the Tour de Brisbane course.
“It was tame the first two times up Coot-tha, we’d get a little gap over the climb, but it would always come back on the Western Freeway" said de Francesco. "On the third time going out on the Freeway, Emily Herfoss went on the attack on her own, I tried to bridge it back on the front, then tried to attack over to her. I train with her on the Gold Coast, she’s just had a baby but she’s really strong and I knew she was one to watch.
"I attacked over to her, a few others followed including Justine Barrow. We got to the bottom of Coot-tha with a group of six of us and the bunch was 40 seconds behind. I knew Justine is a really good climber and our manager, Mark Brady, was in my ear saying ‘make sure you hang onto her as long as possible’.
"That’s what I did, she did get a gap on me, she’s better at changing speeds, whereas I’m more of a tempo climber."
With the catch of Barrow made just after the crest of the climb on the high-speed descent of Coot-tha, De Francesco continued to apply the pressure on the long descent able to create a gap before the run back into the heart of Brisbane.
"Over the top I caught her, I thought on the downhill that we could work together but I looked back and she was off my wheel," said de Francesco. "It was a 10-15 kilometre time trial to the finish from there.”
“Just riding on my own, I thought there would be a group that’s quicker than me. I looked back and could only see motorbike lights and thought there might be some chasers but I made to the end on my own.”
De Francesco didn't just make it to the finish ahead of the rest, she put a minute and 11 seconds into Barrow, ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast's Anya Louw leading the next group home, winning the sprint for third and the young rider classification as a group of three home over two minutes behind de Francesco.
The 28-year-old is an elite athlete many times over in other sports, competing in world championships in open-water swimming before transitioning to triathlon where she currently is a professional. She's a working dietician as well, a recent graduate from university with her own office as part of Pogo Physio on the Gold Coast and she's clearly made big improvements in her short time focusing more on the bike.
“Climbing’s never been my strength, I’ve never been the smallest or lightest girl out there," said de Francesco. "We’ve got some good climbers and trying to chase Kane (Richards, fiancee) and the other guys up the hills is really good training. I definitely surprised myself with how I climbed, I thought I’d struggle to hang onto the lighter riders, but turns out that I was one of the better ones."
De Francesco got the chance to race against some of the best riders in the world during the Australian summer of cycling, albeit a reduced one due to COVID restrictions, but nonetheless a useful experience for the cross-over triathlete to see where she stacked up against the professionals, with Team BikeExchange and a number of solo WorldTour riders riding.
“It was cool riding with the WorldTour girls," said de Francesco. "They’re very strong riders and it was a very different race than just taking on Queensland girls. It was cool to see how they work as a team and the level of rider they are compared to just Queensland, definitely opened up my eyes.”
“It’s definitely a goal of mine to head overseas and race like they’re doing. I’m taking steps to get there and we’ll see how we go. There’s more improving to reach that level, hopefully it’s not too far away.”
After eye-catching performances in Queensland last year translated well to the NRS with two second-placed finishes in the National Tour in the Tweed, de Francesco looks to be building her form and ability in the sport in a manner reminiscent of similar late comers to the sport like current WorldTour professionals Grace Brown, Lucy Kennedy and Katrin Garfoot.
“Just happy that all the hard work in training is starting to pay off," said de Francesco. I was just shocked all day after I won, but just happy now.”
