During a gravel ride with Jasper Ockeloen, Thijs Zonneveld and Niki Terpstra, with whom I was preparing for Unbound Gravel, I was hit during training. I crashed into a delivery truck on a blind left turn. I became unconscious and was taken to hospital by air ambulance. It turned out that my nose was broken and that there was a crack in the back of my skull due to the impact. In addition, I suffered a severe concussion. Fortunately, I am recovering well after flying back to the Netherlands at the beginning of June. My rehabilitation has already started immediately in America and according to the doctors I will make a 100% recovery. For the time being I will not be active in the competitions. Thank you Dutch Mafia and all fans at home for all the support and responses!
BEYOND THE KOM GRAVEL RACER
Ivar Slik
Wilier Factory Racer
Ivar Slik
Latest Newsletter
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FIRST NON-AMERICAN UNBOUND WINNER 2022
So proud to be the first non-american winner in the fastest time ever of the Unbound till 2024! I felt strong on the Wilier Triestina Rave machine and it was great to finish it off in a sprint with 4 fellow riders. “I am so happy. It was my big goal and I succeeded in my first year as a professional gravel rider after winning The Traka. It was super cool to finish it off in a sprint of five.”
Read all about the race on Velonews.com
THROWBACK TO 2022-2024
Over the past years, after my victory in Unbound, I have achieved several great results in the international gravel and beach competitions in Europe and the United States. For Wilier, my races were covered by their content team. This resulted in fantastic atmospheric impressions, such as at the Rift Gravel Race in Iceland.
Unfortunately I was unable to participate in the Unbound 2024 and the upcoming races due to an accident during one of the training rides in the USA. Read all about what happened and the recovery process in this Cyclingnews interview
Check the photo impression by Ourea Productions.
GALLERY
WINNER THE TRAKA 2022
Impression of the first gravel race of 2022, The Traka in Girona. Great race which I finished off in a sprint with 6 fellow riders.
Check the photo impression by Ourea Productions.
GALLERY
Gravelracing
Wilier Factory racer 2022
-2025
Beachracing
Passionate beachracer. European champion 2019, Dutch champion 2020
Roadracing
10 years of racing for continental and professional teams.
Wilier Factory Racer 2022-2025
Cycling is my passion from the moment I first jumped on the bike when I was eight years old. After riding for ten years on continental- and pro continental level I am now a Wilier Factory Racer.
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PROGRAMME
Season 2025
2/2/25 – Beachrace Rockanje – Netherlands
2/9/25 – Beachrace Petten – Netherlands
2/10/25 – Trainingscamp Girona – Spain
2/15/25 – Santa Vall – Gravel Earth Series – Spain, Girona
2/16/25 – Santa Vall – Gravel Earth Series – Spain, Girona
2/20/25 – Trainingscamp Girona – Spain
3/2/25 – Road Race Exloo – National road classic – Netherlands
3/7/25 – Nrute Bike Challenge Schoorl – MTB marathon national – Netherlands
3/9/25 – Road Criterium Schijndel – National Road Criterium – Netherlands
3/16/25 – Pathfinder Giro – National Gravel Race – Eindhoven
3/23/25 – Turnhout Gravel – UCI Gravel Serie – Belgium
3/29/25 – The Hills – Gravel Earth Series – Italy
4/6/25 – Wörthersee Gravel – UCI Gravel Serie – Austria
5/3/25 – Traka Gravel – Gravel Earth Series – Spain, Girona
5/11/25 – Marly Grav Limburg – UCI Gravel Serie – Netherlands
5/18/25 – Volendam – Road Criterium – Netherlands
5/24/25 – Gravel Locos – USA
5/31/25 – UNBOUND 200 – Lifetime GrandPrix – USA
6/14/25 – Blåvand – UCI Gravel Serie – Denmark
6/21/25 – Vianden – UCI Gravel Serie – Luxemburg
7/6/25 – Zevenheuvelenomloop – National Road Classic – Nijmegen, Netherlands
7/9/25 – 62e Wielerdag van Monster – Road Criterium – ‘s-Gravenzande, Netherlands
7/12/25 – GravelOneFifty – UCI Gravel Serie – Netherlands
8/3/25 – 51e Ronde van Oostzaan – Road Criterium – Westzaan, Netherlands
8/10/25 – Heatland Gravel – Gravel – Maasmechelen, Belgium
8/15-16-17 – Gravel Grit ‘n Grind – UCI Gravel Serie – Sweden
8/19/25 – 51e Ronde van De Lier – Road Criterium – ‘s-Gravenzande, Netherlands
8/23/25 – Monsterrando – UCI Gravel Serie – Italy
8/30/25 – Houffa Gravel – UCI Gravel Serie – Belgium
9/6/25 – Ronde van Sint Pancras – Road Criterium – Alkmaar, Netherlands
9/14/25 – Ronde van Oostellingwerf – National road classic – Netherlands
9/21/25 – EC Gravel Avezzano – European Championship – Italy
9/21/25 – Ranxo Gravel – UCI Gravel Serie – Girona, Spain
9/28/25 – NC Gravel Aalten – NL Gravel Serie – Netherlands
10/4/25 – Gasselte – NL Gravel Serie – Netherlands
10/12/25 – UCI WC VALKENBURG – World Championship – Netherlands
European championship beachracing 2019
Gravel race wins 2022
UCI pro wins
Total Strava km
The Rift Iceland
It was an amazing adventure to join The Rift Iceland for the first time. The Rift is a 200 km (125 miles) off-road bike race through the dark lava fields in the highlands of Iceland. It traverses the continental rift between North America and Eurasia – a rift that grows one inch every year. The growth is evident with vast lava fields all around creating a surreal landscape. A landscape that is remote, rugged and unpredictable! In the final sprint with 6 riders I took 2nd place.
Check out the gallery above to get an impression of the race in the remote, rugged and unpredictable landscape!
Gravel One Fifty
Fast and flat race in the north of The Netherlands. We did a long chase on the two early attackers but we never managed to bridge the gap in the Gravel One Fifty this year. I had not the legs to split the chasing group of 22 and finished on place 17. Ready for the next race in Iceland!
Octopus Gravel 2023
Great to participate in the Octopus Gravel event near Andermatt, Switzerland. Started in the fog and ended in the sun. Suffering and enjoying views at the same time. Collected all the seven stamps on the tentacles of the Octopus and became fifth on the ranking of the three timed segments. But it was not about the result this time (only if I had won). Great event in the heart of the Swiss Alps.🇨🇭 💯
Podcast The Adventure Stach
Shortly before the Unbound, Jasper Ockeloen and I became main guests in The Adventure Stach, the podcast of the American professional gravel racer Payson McElveen. We talked about the roots of Dutch Mafia, our work at Sockeloen, the races so far and our perspective on racing Unbound. Listen to the full interview here.
Unbound 2023
Unforrtunately I had to face a broken rear derailleur cable after 20 km in Unbound this year. We dived into a sticky mud bath where everybody had to run and tried to keep their bike as clean as possible. After this section I noticed the cable was broken and I could only ride on the 11. With 310 km to go. Oké, I could shift with my front derailleur, so I had two options. It became a fight against myself and in the end I am happy I pushed through and made it back to Emporia after 11,5 hours of racing in hard conditions.
USA gravel races
The gravel races for qualifying for the World Cup in Veneto and in preparation for Unbound on June 3 have started. After a satisfying fifth place at Traka 2023 in Girona, a race in which I debuted last year and immediately won, I cycled the 3Rides Gravel in Aachen. A race on a circuit of 15 km that had to be completed 7 times and there less suitable for me to hook up with the specialists. After a disappointing 28th place, I was able to take revenge in the first race of the American campaign. The Gravel Locos is a 150-mile course through the sweeping Texas countryside. It was a tough race with a strong field of participants including the other Dutch Mafia riders Jasper Ockeloen, Laurens ten Dam and Thomas Dekker. In the first two hours the pace was immediately high with the wind slanting from behind. This resulted in a group of 15 strong men. At 23 kilometers from the finish, full pace was made after a river crossing and 10 men remained. After a run-out attempt by Jasper Ockeloen failed due to a fall of fellow escapee Payson McElveen, the small group stayed together until the finish. In the sprint I took the third place. Canadian Adam Roberge won. The top 10 also consisted of a lot of big names that we know from cycling: Paul Voss was second, Alex Howes fourth and Petr Vakoc sixth. All these men will also compete against each other in the unofficial WC Gravel as Unbound is also called. My file can be seen on Strava: 252 km in 7 hours and 04 minutes. An average of 35.6 km/h.
Second place at NK Strandrace
At the Dutch National Championships beach race, Ivar showed that the form is back with a good second place. He hadn’t counted himself among the absolute favourites, but he was attentive all morning and jumped along with every breakaway. From the start a leading group formed with Jules De Cock and Richard Jansen. “It was a pity that four riders could come back and Richard was exchanged in a new leading group by Zonneveld. Now I had to let De Cock drive in the last kilometers. I knew that if I caught him back, Thijs would attack over me.” Ivar left Thijs behind with a flaming sprint and took a nice second place.
(Foto: Arjen Schippers)
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