{"id":67028,"date":"2024-02-28T13:40:18","date_gmt":"2024-02-28T11:40:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/?p=67028"},"modified":"2024-02-28T13:42:22","modified_gmt":"2024-02-28T11:42:22","slug":"toyota-specialized-racing-into-season-3-high-on-confidence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/toyota-specialized-racing-into-season-3-high-on-confidence\/","title":{"rendered":"Toyota Specialized Racing into Season 3 High on Confidence"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Founded in 2022 around the 2021 Absa Cape Epic winner, Matt Beers team Toyota Specialized is heading into their third season high on confidence. The squad has expanded to include, Namibian multi-disciplinary champion, Alex Miller and the youthful talent of Johan van Zyl. Already, by late February, the team has amassed a number of major victories including a national title, on the road, for Miller, and a UCI S1 grade stage race when Beers defended his Tankwa Trek title alongside Miller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Team Toyota Specialized launched their 2024 season at the Specialized Experience Centre, at Blaauklippen Wine Estate, on Tuesday, 27 February. From left to right: Alex Miller, Glenn Crompton, Matt Beers and Johan van Zyl. Photo by Ray Cox.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are proud to see the growth of the team as Toyota Specialized enter their third year,\u201d says Glenn Crompton, Vice President of Marketing at Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM). \u201cMountain biking is a natural fit for Toyota and being able to convert the old motoring industry saying of \u2018what wins on Sunday sells on Monday,\u2019 to cycling is certainly a positive. But the relationship goes beyond the stellar results that Matt [Beers] has been able to achieve, and the results which Alex [Miller] and Johan [van Zyl] are sure to continue to produce too.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Matt Beers wears the South African Champion\u2019s Jerseys in Marathon and Gravel races for the first half of 2024. Photo by Ray Cox.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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New addition to the team, Alex Miller will split his focus between marathon and cross-country events in 2024. Photo by Ray Cox.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Johan van Zyl, like Miller, will race both local marathon and cross-country events before heading to Europe in the South African winter for a cross-country campaign. Photo by Ray Cox.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey are also superb ambassadors for the sport and for Toyota,\u201d Crompton praised. \u201cMatt, Alex and Johan are approachable young men, who perform aspirational feats on the bike. We, at Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM), are confident that they will fill Toyota drivers and would-be Toyota drivers with the same faith in the vehicles they drive as they do for cyclists when it comes to the Specialized bicycles they race.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The partnership with Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM) and Specialized Bicycles Africa brings two leaders of their respective industries together. Though it is by no means Toyota\u2019s only relationship within the cycling industry. The local arm of the largest automobile manufacturer in the world is also the title sponsor of Toyota Cadence, a weekly cycling magazine show on SuperSport, and are the official route and vehicle partners of the Absa Cape Epic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The eight-day stage race, which kicks off on Sunday, 17 March, is the Toyota Specialized\u2019s next major target for the season. \u201cThat little race in March is always a big deal for us,\u201d Beers stated. \u201cI\u2019ll be racing alongside 2018 Absa Cape Epic winner Howard Grotts, and we\u2019ll be giving our all to defend the title for Toyota Specialized Ninety One. Being able to give back to our sponsors, especially Toyota, who have supported myself and the team so well, throughout the last two seasons, is really important to me. Anything can happen during the Absa Cape Epic, but you can be sure that we\u2019ll be giving it our all from the start of the Prologue until we cross the final finish line, here in Stellenbosch.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Matt Beers (leading) and Alex Miller won their first race as a team, the Tankwa Trek, together in early February. Photo by Ray Cox.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Millar teams up with Van Zyl for the race before both shift their focus to cross-country racing. \u201cWe\u2019re targeting the Absa African Jerseys and then I\u2019ll be switching focus to the Olympics in Paris,\u201d the Namibian explained. \u201cI feel the mix between marathon and cross-country racing helps keep me mentally fresh and I enjoy the diversity of the challenges the switch between the two provides.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the youngest member of the team Van Zyl is eager to learn from Beers and Miller. \u201cI\u2019d say I\u2019m the quiet one in the team and I\u2019m happy to have Matt [Beers] and Alex [Miller] as teammates. I\u2019ve already learnt so much from them and I\u2019m really looking forward to racing alongside Alex at the Absa Cape Epic, because I know that will be a great opportunity to gain invaluable experience.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Absa Cape Epic is always one of the most eagerly anticipated events of the year,\u201d said Bobby Behan, Managing Director Specialized Bicycles Africa. \u201cThe success of Specialized Bicycles in South Africa is arguably influenced by the brand\u2019s legacy of success in the race. From Christoph Sauser\u2019s first victory, alongside Silvio Bundi in 2006, to the fantastic double success of Susi [Sauser] and the late-great Burry Stander, and on to Matt [Beers\u2019] victories in 2021 and 2022. Winning the Untamed African Mountain Bike Race allows us to prove we have the best marathon and stage racing mountain bike, which is essential to the South African market.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt would however not be possible to win bike races without world-class athletes and the support of world-class partners,\u201d Behan added. \u201cHaving Toyota as the title sponsor of the team provides Matt, Alex and Johan with the support they need to focus on riding their bikes and being the best athletes they can be. Toyota\u2019s professionalism and commitment has been the backbone of the team\u2019s success for the last two years and will continue, I\u2019m sure, in the years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Toyota Specialized riders will each be driving a Toyota Hilux to and from races in 2024. Photo by Ray Cox.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After the Absa Cape Epic Beers\u2019 focus will switch to gravel racing as he heads to the United States of America to race the Life Time Grand Prix series, which includes the world\u2019s most famous gravel race. Unbound Gravel takes place on Saturday, 1 June, 2024 and features a 200 Mile race through the flint hills of east-central Kansas. Miller meanwhile will be chasing Olympic dreams in Paris after taking part in the European leg of the UCI cross-country World Cup season. Van Zyl will join Miller for a number of cross-country races in Europe as he continues his development and chases Olympic qualification for the 2028 cycle, which culminates with the summer games in Los Angeles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trio are thus competing across a range of disciplines and will be seen putting the Specialized Epic, Epic Evo, Diverge STR gravel bike and Tarmac road bikes through their paces. They will be competing in a Van H cycling kit, fuelled by Cadence Nutrition and will be able to see every obstacle in the trail ahead thanks to Oakley Eyewear. Specialized Bicycles\u2019 comprehensive range of accessories provide the team with helmets, shoes, and gloves; while Specialized\u2019s in-house component brand, Roval, supplies wheels and selected other components. Thule ensures that their bicycles are transported safely to every race, on the industry\u2019s leading bike racks, fitted to the squad\u2019s Toyota Hilux bakkies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beers, Miller and Van Zyl can each be seen driving to races in a co-branded, Toyota Specialized, Toyota Hilux. To stay up-to date with their achievements throughout the 2024 season follow @toyota_specialized on Instagram or follow the riders individually: @mattbeers55, @johan_van_zyl_, and @alex_mtb_miller. For more information on the Toyotas the team drive visit www.toyota.co.za<\/a> and click through to www.specialized.com\/za<\/a> to see the Specialized bicycles they race.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Founded in 2022 around the 2021 Absa Cape Epic winner, Matt Beers team Toyota Specialized is heading into their third season high on confidence. The squad has expanded to include, Namibian multi-disciplinary champion, Alex Miller and the youthful talent of Johan van Zyl. Already, by late February, the team has amassed a number of major […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":67030,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5332],"tags":[155,95,43,5308],"featured_location":[338],"class_list":["post-67028","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry","tag-matt-beers","tag-specialized","tag-toyota","tag-toyota-specialized","featured_location-bottom-row"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67028","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67028"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67028\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67035,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67028\/revisions\/67035"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67030"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67028"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=67028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}