 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Bartolomeo Aimo |
| Nickname | Bartù |
| Born | (1889-09-24)24 September 1889 Virle Piemonte,Italy |
| Died | 1 December 1970(1970-12-01) (aged 81) Turin, Italy |
| Team information | |
| Discipline | Road |
| Role | Rider |
Bartolomeo Aimo (sometimes writtenBartolomeo Aymo (Virle Piemonte, 24 September 1889 —Turin, 1 December 1970) was an Italian professionalroad bicycle racer. He finished on the podium of theGiro d'Italia four times (1921, 1922, 1923, 1928) and on the podium of theTour de France two times (1925, 1926) but never won agrand tour.
Aimo was the inspiration for a character inErnest Hemingway's novelA Farewell to Arms. Hemingway, who served as an ambulance driver on the Italian-Austrian front duringWorld War I, was known for incorporating real-life figures into his fiction, and Aimo was one of them.[1]
Hemingway had a lifelong obsession with sports and physical activities, always striving to master them. He became an expert in bullfighting in Spain in the 1920s, developed a passion for big-game fishing in the 1930s in Key West, and pursued boxing, shooting, and hunting throughout his life. It is perhaps no surprise that during his time in Europe, he also developed a detailed knowledge of cycling. His friend and fellow writerJohn Dos Passos once remarked:
"Hem knew all the statistics and the names and lives of the riders."[2]
While the fictional Aimo dies tragically as a young soldier, the real Bartolomeo Aimo lived a long life, passing away in Turin on December 1, 1970, at the age of 81.
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