Dave Zabriskie, cyclist, is an international champion. Zabriskie is one of the rare riders to have won stages in all three of cycling’s Grand Tours—the Giro d’Italia, the Tour de France, and the Vuelta España.

Being an Olympic athlete takes a combination of talent, strength, and grit. Few athletes make it to the top without seemingly superhuman resilience to push themselves past their limits.

But Zabriskie and many other top athletes have another secret weapon at their disposal: clean air.

Cycling: A lifelong passion

David Zabriskie’s longtime passion for cycling started young, giving him the time and extensive experience he needed to become the best at his craft.

“I got into cycling when my dad and mom bought Schwinn bikes and put little bike seats on the back of them and rode me around the neighborhood. I felt an exhilaration, like a two-wheeled rush,” says Zabriskie. “I was always riding around my neighborhood in Utah, and at around 15 I started getting serious when I got a road bike.”

Zabriskie was first inspired to get into cycling during a media storm around what many people were calling the “death of the road bike.”

Growing up in the 1990s, Zabriskie remembers that many people were buying mountain bikes for street riding while missing out on the faster speeds and functionality of road bikes.

An owner of a mountain bike at the time, Zabriskie read an article in Bicycling called “Can the road bike be saved?” that drew his attention to road bikes as ideal for road cycling. Then, seeing the 1979 Academy Award-winning film “Breaking Away” about a rising pro cyclist sealed the deal for him.

Over the next two decades, Zabriskie rose to prominence in his field, eventually qualifying for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics with the United States Men’s Cycling Team.

2008 Olympics: An air quality challenge

When Zabriskie and his team arrived in Beijing for the 2008 Summer Olympics, they were concerned about thepoor air quality near the Olympic national stadium.

“Landing in Beijing, I didn’t know what to expect,” Zabriskie said. “Especially with my sport being outdoors, the air pollution was a huge concern.”

Zabriskie and his teammates were relieved when they arrived at the U.S. Olympic training facilities.

The United States Olympic Committee chose IQAir air filtration systems to place in the dorms and training facilities of U.S. Olympic athletes to provide access to clean air.

Having lived in cities with air pollution, Zabriskie was very familiar with IQAir. Upon arrival in Beijing, he was pleased to see the HealthPro Plus in his dorm.

“It put me at ease knowing that our dorms had the best of the best,” said Zabriskie. “I knew this was serious and I knew they did their homework.”

Zabriskie believes that clean air helped him distinguish himself in the Olympic cycling competitions that year, finishing near the top 10 in the Men’s Individual Time Trial for road cycling.

While the HealthPro Plus was a game-changer back in 2008, technology has evolved. Today, IQAir offers an even more advanced solution for athletes and families alike: the PerfectPro whole-house air purifier.

Air pollution effects on athletic performance

“Being outside, there’s not much I can do to control the environment, but you can have some control over the indoor air quality,” Zabriskie said.

Like Zabriskie claims, research suggests that air pollution is a serious threat when it comes to athletic performance – so after owning several HealthPro Plus systems for years, Zabriskie upgraded to the PerfectPro.Designed to deliver medical-grade air throughout an entire home without making a sound, PerfectPro is both energy-efficient and powerful.

On average, outdoor athletes like cyclists consume up to 20 times more oxygen during peak performance than when at rest. This means that cyclists can breathe in up to 20 times more airborne pollutants than the average individual when they’re training or performing.

Dr. David Newby, a cardiology professor at the University of Edinburgh, conducted a study that suggests the destructive effect air pollution can have on cyclists.

In the study, participants who cycled for just 30 minutes in polluted air experienced abnormal blood vessel dilation and blood clotting problems that greatly increased the risk of heart attacks (1).Such risks make the advanced filtration capabilities of the PerfectPro Series all the more essential for athletes. The system filters ultrafine particles down to 0.003 microns—the smallest particles that exist—including harmful agents linked to respiratory diseases and heart conditions.

The takeaway

In retirement, Zabriskie still relies on IQAir to maintain a healthy environment for his family, particularly the PerfectPro Series, which offers peace of mind for any homeowner concerned about air quality.

“And you can’t put a price on peace of mind for your family and the air they’re breathing,” Zabriskie says.”