On November 21, former Unbound Gravel 200 champion Ivar Slik (Wilier Triestina), allowed himself a second to acknowledge a six-month anniversary. The date was precisely half a yr since his 2024 season ended abruptly on a coaching trip within the US. He was 11 days away from competing for a fourth time in Emporia, Kansas at Unbound 200, however as an alternative, ended up in a hospital with an extended street to restoration.
“It took a extremely very long time and the final weeks I can say it is again to regular,” the multi-discipline Dutch racer advised Cyclingnews. “I’m tremendous motivated for subsequent yr and I’m filled with ambition. I need to at the least equal my 2022 season and the prospects are good. This yr was an enormous setback however I’ve been working very exhausting since then and I’m trying ahead to subsequent yr with nice confidence.”
This previous Thursday additionally marked the day hundreds of elite and newbie riders world wide obtained lottery confirmations for Unbound entries from occasion proprietor/producer Life Time. Since Slik was not in a position to trip this yr, he stated he can be there Might 31, 2025 on the beginning line.
“Unbound is the last word gravel race of the yr. Now, the World Championships are additionally there, however Unbound, it is greater than the Worlds,” assessed Slik, having competed for the Netherlands twice on the UCI Gravel World Championships, however missed the 2024 version as a result of Might 21 crash.
The 31-year-old made historical past in 2022 as the primary non-US rider to win the epic off-road race. He transitioned in 2021 from a 10-year professional street profession and seaside racing with some mountain bike and gravel racing, ending 14th in his inaugural look in Kansas for the 200-mile assault within the Flint Hills.
Lined in mud the following yr, he received a dash in opposition to defending champion Ian Boswell, Keegan Swenson and Laurens ten Dam to assert simply the second gravel race victory of his profession. His first victory got here in Spain at The Traka 200 earlier in Might. He took second at Gravel Locos in Texas resulting in his sprint in Kansas. He added second place later within the season in a muddy version of Gravel One Fifty within the Netherlands, which certified him for his first UCI Gravel World Championships.
The subsequent yr he stored his momentum going with a win at Gravelicious in Arkansas, second at The Rift, third at Gravel Locos and fifth at The Traka 200. He completed Unbound 200, however had a number of mechanical points within the thick mud and completed thirty sixth.
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“I really like the adventurous nature of gravel racing however I’m additionally performance-oriented. Unbound and the UCI sequence can be my fundamental objectives for 2025,” he advised Cyclingnews about his return to competitors within the new yr.
“My private favorite races – Gravel Locos, Traka and The Rift – I can be on the begins. Additionally the Migration Gravel Race in Kenya and the Saga Gravel Race in Chile are excessive on my record, this appears to me an important journey.”
He’ll trip a fourth season for his Wilier Triestina sponsors and can pin on a race quantity for the primary time since Might at seaside races in Europe. In 2019 he was the European Seaside racing champion and received the title in 2020.
“Now half a yr later, I’m comfortable to say that I’ve been again on the bike for 2 months and I can do full coaching weeks once more with out limitations. In December, I’ll return to competitors and I’ll trip seaside races this winter in preparation for the gravel season of 2025.
Recalling the catastrophe
Slik stated he ‘put all the things’ into his coaching and preparations for Unbound Gravel 200 this previous yr. And it was maybe a tribute to his nice bodily situation that he might survive the accidents that ended his 2024 season earlier than that race.
Niki Terpstra, Jasper Ockeloen and Thijs Zonneveld, shut pals and fellow gravel racers, had been with him at Gravel Locos after which travelled to Arkansas by automotive “to place the ending touches on our form and at last in Kansas for the race. Nonetheless catastrophe struck”. On Might 21, a head-on collision with a truck on a rural filth street “in the midst of nowhere” in Arkansas.
He was respiratory after being struck however was unconscious. His pals put him at the back of the identical truck, as the driving force had stopped, and was pushed to a paved street to satisfy first responders. A fireman known as for a trauma helicopter to move him to the hospital. Slik confirmed with Cyclingnews that he suffered a concussion, a damaged nostril, a crack in his cranium, a broken knee and a number of other different wounds. His first evening within the Fayetteville hospital he stated he had two minor mind hemorrhages.
“I had large hassle speaking in regards to the accident, and that is why I additionally went to psychologists to assist me discuss it. The unusual factor is that I suffered reminiscence loss, in regards to the crash and the ten days that adopted. After 10 days I believed I crashed with only a concussion. Why is everybody so nervous?”
He stated his pals visited him on daily basis within the hospital and he was in a position to go away after 10 days. He expressed honest thanks for the help of his Dutch pals, the driving force of the truck for serving to and the medical employees.
“My father had travelled to America and collectively we stayed in an Airbnb till the return flight on Monday, June 4. I had surgical procedure on my nostril and will stroll brief distances once more, however not with out ache due to my knee.
“Within the time that adopted, I had about 5 epileptic assaults, which is a results of the mind haemorrhage. Vibrant mild was annoying however fortuitously, I didn’t undergo from complications. I’m being handled by a neurologist in a Dutch hospital, and he assured me that I’ll get well fully, which is what the medical doctors stated in America too. This gave me lots of reassurance.”
He bought again on his bike six weeks after the accident however skilled appreciable knee ache. An Orthopedic specialist was discovered and stated his meniscus “had folded backwards and doubled”. He was off the bike once more for surgical procedure.
“I needed to stroll with crutches for six weeks and was not allowed to place any weight on my knee. Nonetheless, my knee swelled up much more within the days after the operation after which it turned out that I bought a bacterial an infection after the operation. Due to this, I needed to go underneath the knife once more adopted by six weeks of antibiotics, of which two had been by means of an IV within the hospital.
“An intense rehabilitation adopted and I went to the physiotherapist 4 occasions per week. I principally needed to be taught to stroll once more and it was painful to see the season go on with out me. Happily, I made regular progress though it took time.
“This yr was a little bit little bit of a misplaced yr, however I attempted to take the teachings realized with me. I realized so much about myself. I do know now that I really like biking.”
