Dutch cyclist Ivar Slik, 31, was involved in a crash while training in Bentonville, Arkansas, last week in preparation for Unbound Gravel. He sustained multiple injuries and remains at a hospital in Arkansas following surgery.

Slik won Unbound 200 in 2022 and was hoping to reclaim his title this year. He and his Dutch training partners had traveled to the U.S. to prepare for the race in Emporia, Kansas. According to reports, Slik collided with a delivery vehicle on a dirt road in northwest Arkansas.

The Dutchman, riding for Wilier Triestina Factory Racing, suffered a severe concussion, a crack to his skull, a broken nose, and several cuts. Slik’s training partner, Jasper Ockeloen, posted an update to social media.

“Some bad news from the states. Yesterday, our friend Ivar crashed into a car during a joint training ride around Bentonville. He was transported to the hospital unconscious. There, it was found that he had suffered several injuries…he is doing well under the circumstances, and the doctors are positive. He’s conscious, he’s talking, and he’s moving his whole body. But he will be kept in the hospital for the next few days anyway so they can monitor him. We are very happy with all the (professional) help he gets and has received. He is not reachable and will not be on his bike for the time being.”

Another training partner, Thijs Zonneveld, told Cyclingnews, “Just days after the crash, it was just all about being in the moment and that he rest as much as possible and that there were no more complications. The situation every day became better and better. The main thing is that he recovers. He’s doing really, really, really, really well considering the circumstances.”

Slik, Ockeloen, Zonneveld, and Niki Terpstra were all in the States for training and racing. They had completed the Gravel Locos race in Hico, Texas, and planned to race the Gravelicious event in Bentonville last week before heading to Unbound.

Cyclingnews reported that Terpstra described the crash on his Dutch-language podcast, Speed On Wheels, saying, “The four of us did a gravel ride for the first time; it was the second day we were here. We had a slight descent. Ivar and Jasper rode in front, Thijs and I were behind. We had a blind bend to the left. Out of nowhere, a delivery truck comes around the corner. One or two seconds later, there was a loud crash. Ivar drives head-on into that car.”

Terpstra described Slik striking the grille, headlight, and hood of the vehicle, “his face hitting the front. His body flew through the air and grazed the truck.” The three riders and the driver, who had stopped, saw that Slik was unconscious, but efforts to call 911 were fruitless in that remote area.

He goes on to describe stabilizing Slik after the collision while Ockeloen goes back to the main road to call for help. When paramedics arrive via ambulance, they decide to order a helicopter, which airlifts Slik to Washington Regional Hospital south in Fayetteville.

Zonneveld also needed medical attention, as he was cut when Slik’s bike went flying through the air.

The training partners and friends are hoping to still have a good race this weekend at Unbound Gravel, but are even more hopeful that they can travel home safely with Slik. “‘It would be really nice if we could travel home together, the dream scenario that we could just pick him up and travel back home,’ Zonneveld said about plans after Unbound this weekend. ‘Of course, it depends on the situation. It is up to his doctors.’”