Sugimoto Terufumi is a second-year student at Sohoku High School and a member of the Sohoku High Bicycle Club. He is best known for constantly referring to himself as "an experienced cyclist."
Appearance
Sugimoto has black, heavily parted hair and often wears an overly self assured smile. He is tall and lanky and is typically seen wearing either the school uniform or his biking gear. His cycling wear is made up of dark green shorts, gray sneakers, brown fingerless gloves, and a gray top.
Personality
Sugimoto is best known for declaring himself as an experienced cyclist. He is extraordinarily experienced in biking, with three long years of extreme experience, and did he mention he's experienced in bike racing? He appears to remain confident despite being bested by Onoda, Imaizumi, and Naruko. During the first Inter High, he learned to cheer for and believe in his teammates. These experiences also encouraged him to better himself, and he begins training in earnest, turning to Imaizumi for advice. This shows that he recognizes his own inferiority to some extent, and that he wants to overcome the gap between his talented teammates and himself. Sadatoki revealed that he is actually a very timid and has great self-doubt.
Skills and Techniques
While he isn't a particularly strong cyclist, his main technique seems to be keeping to his own rhythm and pace, as any experienced cyclist would do, making him better suited as a long-distance rider/sprinter. He was left behind by fellow Sohoku sprinters in the Criterium in the November after Inter-High as the other sprinters enter a dog fight between themselves, to the point of asking for Teshima's permission to enter him in the First Year's Welcome Race as a second year student because he has his brother as competition, but he has to start from the back of the pack after leading them in the warm-up/no-passing zone. He caught up with Kaburagi Issa and Danchiku Ryuuhou and passed them both on the climb before they caught up and passed him before the final climb.
In second year he becomes adept at pacing himself over long distances and makes use of his excellent connection with his brother to synchronize with him while racing. Sugimoto himself admits that he's not very good at final sprints, which is why he works so hard at keeping up a strong pace during long distances to make up for that failing.
Trivia
- Is in Class 1-4 with Onoda.
Best subject
- Mathematics