After catching up to Sohoku, Midosuji reveals he never considered Sohoku to be a real threat and that he isn't interested in challenging Imaizumi. Imaizumi's confidece suffers a further blow when Midosuji has his teammates accelearate. They manage to catch up to Hakone Academy in two minutes time. 5 kilometers from the sprint marker Midosuji challenges Hakone to a sprint race. Izumida accepts the challenge, but Shinkai Hayato stops him and instead decides to challenge Midosuji. Izumida reveals the numbers at Hakone are strategically placed: 1 is the ace, 2 is the ace's assistant, 3 is the ace climber, and 4 is the ace sprinter. Hayato and Midosuji accelerate, with Hayato saying he isn't doing the sprint for pride. Midosuji begins to panic when he realizes that Hayato is leading him without putting in any real effort. Midosuji is forced to go all out to manage to catch Hayato. In a flashback we see how Hayato almost quit cycling after hitting a mother rabbit. Juichi talks with the senior class to help them understand why Hayato wants to quit the team. In the end though Juichi promises that if Hayato comes back this following year, he will wear tag #4. As we return to the race, Midosuji cries in despair as Hayato continues to get further and further away.
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