He has a 480 W FTP and takes 140 g/h of carbohydrates during the race: this is how the Cape Epic winner's season went

The South African cyclist from the Specialized Off-Road team, Matthew Beers, has become one of the great stars of gravel after a fabulous 2025 season in which he even managed to win the legendary Cape Epic on a mountain bike for the fourth time. This has been the season of this natural prodigy.

From dominating the Cape Epic to becoming one of the best gravel cyclists today

An interview published on the well-known website CyclingWeekly has allowed us to get to know Matthew Beers in greater depth, who today, after a truly brutal 2025 in which he has triumphed in events such as the Gravel Burn, Big Sugar Classic, Belgian Waffle Ride, and the Lafu Gravel Worlds, has become the leading reference for gravel cycling worldwide.

A robust South African who was tested as a stagiaire with the UAE Team Emirates during 2019, although he ultimately did not find a place on the road. It was the same year he achieved his first victory in the Cape Epic, this time alongside mountain bike star Jordan Sarrou.

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As a large cyclist, Matthew Beers' best weapon in competition is the tremendous power he can generate, boasting a wild FTP of 480 W. With the type of courses typically found in gravel events, which usually do not feature very long climbs, the South African feels right at home in competitions that require moving a lot of power for extended periods, complemented by his MTB experience that provides the necessary technical bike handling to be lethal off-road.

The 2025 season did not start exceptionally well for Matthew Beers: “In the races leading up to the Cape Epic, I had many mechanical problems.” However, the arrival of the South African event, where he competed with his friend and also a great gravel reference, Keegan Swenson, and managed to defend the victory he achieved the previous year, marked a turning point in his season. After that, he went on to win in Belgium and two events in the United States. However, on the big day of gravel, the Unbound, he had to settle for 16th place in the flagship 200-mile race. He also competed in The Traka, where he achieved a commendable 2nd place.

Between May and August, things took a turn for Beers until, in mid-October, he achieved a resounding victory in the Big Sugar Gravel, surprising all the favorites and averaging a wild 413 W during the more than two hours of the race.

Beers cites nutrition as one of the most important aspects of his performance, something he has been perfecting over the years to provide his 1.94 m tall and 80 kg heavy frame with enough energy to perform at his best in the long gravel competitions. His nutrition varies depending on the temperature at which the event is held but can range from 90 g/h of carbohydrates to a tremendous 120-140 grams of carbohydrates per hour, something only achievable by very well-trained stomachs.

This bulkiness, in gravel, Matthew Beers turns into an advantage on the wide flat stretches of terrain typically found in gravel events, although he also notes that being so large works against him in terms of aerodynamics. Therefore, finding the optimal balance between aerodynamics, comfort, and power output is now one of his key challenges.
Although the United States is where Beers has grown as a gravel cyclist, he cannot help but highlight the enormous potential of his home country, South Africa, for this cycling discipline, stating, “It has some of the best gravel roads in the world, especially in the Western Cape. I hope the UCI brings the World Championship to South Africa before I retire.”

Despite the 2025 season ending with a broken collarbone from which he is now recovering, he is already looking ahead to next year, where he will focus even more on gravel, although for now, he has no set goals: “I still haven't sat down to analyze it, but there are races that are still there like Unbound or the World Championship. Others like The Traka or Sea Otter Classic are races I would love to win.”