If you haven’t heard of Matthew Beers, chances are you’ve been living under a heap of gravel. Since signing with Specialized Off-Road in 2024, the South African has become one of the most popular and feared riders on the US gravel racing scene, forging a reputation built on his 480W FTP and exceptional bike-handling skills.
Despite years of success racing road, mountain, and gravel bikes in South Africa, including a stint at UAE Team Emirates-XRG as a stagiaire in 2019, it was his 2021 Cape Epic win alongside Frenchman Jordan Sarrou that put him on the radar of international teams.
Fast forward to today, and Matt Beers is as well known in the USA as he is in his home country of South Africa, thanks to the Life Time Grand Prix. Despite a successful season, 2025 didn’t start well for Beers; this included his title defence of the Cape Epic with Keegan Swenson in March.
“The early months didn’t quite go to plan,” Beers told Cycling Weekly.
“Races leading up to the Cape Epic, I had mechanicals, then the Cape Epic didn’t go great either. After that, I went to the USA and Europe and had some great results. Then, mid-season, it went downhill again, but the last months of the year were great, so it’s definitely been up-and-down with the ups outweighing the downs.”
(Image credit: James Cameron Heron)
While gravel as a discipline is still in a state of flux and constantly evolving, one country is leading the charge – the United States of America, and this is where Beers spends large amounts of his season, training and prepping alongside his good friend Keegan Swenson. Beers believes the USA is the land of opportunity for off-road racers, more particularly aspiring gravel professionals.
“I think the USA is still the place with the most opportunities. Unbound will change your career like no other gravel race, but other events and countries outside of the USA are becoming extremely popular; races such as the Traka and Gravel Burn.”
After winning the Big Sugar Classic in emphatic fashion with an incognito attack that caught the Life Time Grand Prix series leaders napping, not to mention averaging over 431w for over two hours of racing,…