Ivar Slik: "Don't call it a Comeback"

Words by James Ion - Photography provided by Ivar Slik.

To paraphrase the words of LL Cool J, don’t call it a comeback; he’s been here for years. Ivar Slik’s story was put on hold in 2024 after a horrific accident left him in a coma. The fight for him never stopped; he might not have pinned on a number, but he was still competing, still fighting for every inch. Now he is back, but it’s not a comeback; it’s a continuation of the journey he started in 2022, winning Unbound, and he is determined to cross that finish line again with arms aloft.

"The Biggest win of my Career!" Ivar Slik wins Unbound 2022

In the world of gravel racing, few stories capture both the promise and the fragility of

a career quite like that of Dutch rider Ivar Slik. Tall, powerful, and known for his

endurance rather than explosive finishing speed, Slik built his career slowly, first

through the European road scene with continental and pro-continental squads and then, in winter, beach racing at home, before finding his true calling on gravel.

In 2022, he made history by becoming the first non-American to win Unbound Gravel 200, the most prestigious race in the discipline.

It was a victory that changed everything.

Sponsors lined up, media requests flooded in, and in the Netherlands, he went from an almost anonymous athlete to appearing on live television talk shows within days. For a rider who had spent years grinding away without a clear speciality on the road, gravel offered a chance not just to compete but to stand out. The Unbound win seemed to confirm that this new path had been waiting for him all along.

Slik is reflective when he looks back on that moment. “It was overwhelming,” he says.“Crossing the line, winning the sprint, then suddenly there are cameras everywhere, interviews, photographs, people asking who I was. I was just a Dutch guy turning up to Unbound, but overnight I became the first foreign winner. It gave me options I never imagined. Every bike brand contacted me. Kit sponsors, computer companies, lifestyle brands. But what I remember most is the feeling of validation – that all the work had been worth it.”

The victory opened doors quickly, but it also changed expectations. Sponsors and fans alike assumed he would keep winning, that one big breakthrough would automatically translate into more.

Even more than that, Slik put pressure on himself. He believed he could, and should, continue to dominate. Gravel, however, is unpredictable by nature. The courses are long and harsh, equipment is pushed to the limit, and luck plays an outsized role. In 2023, back at Unbound, heavy rain turned the early miles into sticky mud. Slik’s rear derailleur cable snapped, leaving him able to shift only at the front. He fought to the finish, but it was a day defined by survival, not triumph.

Other races that year brought flashes of quality – second at The Rift in Iceland, third at Gravel Locos – but he admits they didn’t match what he expected of himself. “I thought 2023 and 2024 would be better, that I’d build on Unbound and keep stepping up,” he explains. “But gravel is full of variables. You can be in top form and one puncture, one mechanical, one mistake, and it’s over. The sponsors were never angry; they were actually supportive, but the real pressure came from me. I wanted to win everything.”

That inner drive kept him pushing, but fate had a more serious challenge in store. In May 2024, training in the United States ahead of Unbound, Slik’s life changed dramatically. He was riding in a small group on a remote gravel road in Kansas when a truck appeared suddenly in a blind left-hand corner. Riding on the left of a two-by-two formation, he had no time to react. The impact was catastrophic. “I don’t remember the accident at all,” he admits. “One second we were riding, the next thing I knew, I woke up in the hospital ten days later. For me, it was like the crash happened and then, immediately after, it was ten days later. But for my friends, fellow pro riders, Niki Terpstra, Jasper Ockeloen and Thijs Zonneveld, those ten days were life or death. They thought I was going to die.”

He had been airlifted to the hospital with two minor brain bleeds, his head badly cut, his body smashed. At first, there were fears he might not walk again. He remembers little, but those around him recall him lying motionless, bloodied, and being handled with extreme care by his teammates and the truck driver who had stopped to help.

At one point, I really thought, maybe I will never walk normally again.

The reality was grim: not only the brain injury but also a torn meniscus in his knee, followed by a bacterial infection after surgery that required further operations and weeks of intravenous antibiotics. “At one point, I really thought, maybe I will never walk normally again,” Slik says. “I was in the hospital, watching the Olympic Games on TV, and I couldn’t imagine moving without pain. But then you focus on the smallest goals – walking one kilometre on crutches, then three, riding slowly on a city bike. That became my training.”

Recovery was painstaking. The brain injury left him with memory gaps and difficulty reading; he had to train his eyes again just to focus on text. He experienced seizures that frightened those around him, even if to him they felt like simply drifting off. Progress came slowly, but it came. After five months, he was back on the bike, first short rides on a mountain bike and road bike, then gradually longer.

By December 2024, seven months after the accident, he lined up at a beach race in the

Netherlands. He finished fifteenth. To the people there, it felt like a win that he could start again. But his first reaction was disappointment in the result. In the end, it made him more aware of the fact that he can consider himself very fortunate with his recovery and the quick and accurate actions of Thijs, Niki, and Jasper. The same was true for UNBOUND. "People were happy and surprised to see me again, and finishing the race is seen as a victory in Emporia."

This season has been about building on that foundation. Physically, he insists he is strong. In training, his numbers are good, sometimes better than ever. But racing is different. Results have been modest compared to his pre-accident highs, and Slik acknowledges that he cannot expect miracles. “It took longer than I hoped, and I know it won’t come back fully this season,” he says. “But I believe I can be top ten again in 2026. That belief is what keeps me going.”

Belief has always been central to Slik’s story. From his early days on the road, where he struggled to find a speciality, through the gamble of committing to gravel before it was fully professionalised, to the choice to keep going after the accident, he has built his career on perseverance rather than inevitability. He is open about the fact that he is not the most naturally gifted climber or sprinter, but gravel suits him because of the long distances and the way experience, endurance, and resilience can trump explosive talent. “I’m more suited to the long races,” he says. “The shorter, more explosive events like the UCI Gravel World Series are less for me. Unbound, Traka, Migration – those are the races I love. It’s also about the storytelling, the adventure. Even without big results this year, I feel I still have a story to tell.”

Looking ahead, he has clear goals. The Traka in Spain remains special to him, as does Unbound, where he dreams of one day repeating his 2022 success. “Unbound will always be where it all began for me,” he says. “Of course it’s risky – fifty per cent of the time you’re dealing with bad luck, punctures, broken equipment, crashes – but that’s what makes it so special. I want to go back and show I can do it again.”

But gravel racing is changing rapidly. Where once it was an individual pursuit, with riders entering on their own and sponsors backing them directly, it is increasingly shifting towards small teams and a more road-like structure. That change complicates sponsorship negotiations. Slik has been loyal to Wilier, the Italian brand that gave him his chance before Unbound, and he has ridden their new bikes with pride. But contracts are ending, and discussions about the future are ongoing and are looking good.

“Ideally, I’d already have everything sorted,” he says. “On the road, riders know their teams by August. In gravel, it’s different – there’s no set time. I’ve been talking to brands, but many of them are still deciding on their strategy. I want to choose by mid-October. The level increased, and there are more gravel racers, so the market is not as good as in 2022 for the riders. My results this year are below the level I wanted. I feel I have it still in me and will do everything for it. So, which brand it will be, they won’t regret it!" He says with a smile.

I'm convinced that I can do that. But I want to speak with the pedals

That sense of unfinished business is what drives him through training. Despite the setbacks, he is convinced his best form is still possible. At 32, he sees a limited but meaningful window of two to three more years at the top level. After that, he imagines moving into family life and a role within the bike industry, perhaps in marketing or communications. The accident forced him to think about life beyond racing, exploring other interests, but he admits his heart remains tied to cycling. “Working for a bike brand, maybe as a marketing manager or content manager, that’s something I could see myself doing,” he says. “But first I want to race, to show I can still be at the front.” “I know that I have already achieved (almost) everything in gravel racing. So it's not about showing people that I can still do it. It's mainly about wanting to compete for the top spots again, and like I said, I'm convinced that I can do that. But I want to speak with the pedals.”

There is also a quieter gratitude that underpins everything he says. He is thankful for his friends who saved his life at the roadside in Kansas, for the doctors who treated him, and for the simple fact that he can still ride his bike. “It could have been much worse,” he reflects. “I could have died. I could have been paralysed. I could have lost a leg. So when I’m on the bike now, even if the result is not great, I can relate more easily.”

That perspective doesn’t diminish his ambition, but it adds depth to it. The goals are not just about trophies but about narrative, resilience, and redemption. For fans and sponsors alike, that makes his story compelling even in the absence of podiums. In many ways, the recovery itself has already proven his strength. But for Slik, the journey is not complete until he shows, once again, that he can win.

“I know I can do it,” he says firmly. “The only way to prove it is to show it. That’s why I keep going. I am ready to prove myself again.”

Just dont call it a comeback.

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