Sakamichi doesn't just want to win this race, he's running it to prove he belongs with the fastest cyclists in Japan, and every kilometer is him refusing to break. The movie strips away the tournament structure of the series and builds toward one mountain stage where everything the team has learned crashes into rivals who won't give an inch. By the finish line, you understand why these kids chose to suffer on bikes instead of living normal summers.

With the Inter-high behind them and summer winding down, Sakamichi trains hard alongside Imaizumi and Naruko, hoping to carry forward the Sohoku team's spirit of mutual support passed on by the graduating third years Kinjou, Makishima and Tadokoro. When an invitation arrives for the Kumamoto Hi Province Mountain Range Race, a contest for teams that did well at the Inter-high, captain Kinjou sends the core squad. Rivals Hakone Academy, eager to beat Sohoku, are there, along with Kyoto Fushimi, Hiroshima Kureminami and the local Kumamoto Daiichi team under Shin Yoshimoto, the climber of fire. On Mount Aso, the Kinjou-led team faces its final race together, in a sports film mixing comedy and drama.