Though it's never over 'til it's over, it appears probable that Team USA will climb the podium in at least one class when the 84th Maxxis FIM International Six Days Enduro in Figueira da Foz, Portugal, finishes tomorrow. The fifth day saw its Junior World Trophy team hold onto third place in the standings fairly easily on a day that saw new and mostly easy trail.

Photo Right: Damon Huffman has been unable to do his best in the tests due to a severe case of tendinitis, which he's never had before. Of course, he's also never ridden hard for six days in a row before, either.

On the other hand, the U.S. World Trophy team slipped to seventh, as injuries took a toll on the two newest Six Days racers on the squad. Neither Damon Huffman nor Timmy Weigand quit, but they could certainly have been excused had they thrown in the towel.

Huffman has been suffering from tendonitis in his forearms for the past few days and those forearms have taken on the appearance of overstuff sausages. The former motocross pro and current WORCS and EnduroCross competitor has never had it, but he’s also never raced hard for six days in a row either. Needless to say, it makes pushing the pace in tests virtually impossible.

Photo Right: Yannick Bossi of France (18), Goncalo Reis of Portugal (111) and Cedric Kremer of Belgium (163) vie for position after hopping onto a road.

Fellow Six Days freshman Timmy Weigand hasn't had to deal with such an overuse injury this week, and he's been cranking out very respectable times in E1. At least he did until he crashed today and ground away (to the bone!) the tip of his throttle hand’s little finger. To add insult to injury, he spent last night dealing with food poisoning so bad he needed two IV drips before getting on his bike this morning.

That drew the praise of team leader Kurt Caselli, who observed, "They're really digging down and just making sure that they finish. That means a lot."

But it doesn’t mean as much as a podium finish, something that might escape from the U.S. Women’s World Cup team for the first time since the category’s genesis in Chile in 2007 where the Americans won.

Photo Left: Timmy Weigand didn't have a good fifth day. He crashed in a transfer section and ground off the upper tip of his little finger, right down to the bone! Though it gushed blood, he made it to the finish so as not to damage the team even more.

Maria Forsberg is on her way to being the fastest American woman for the second year in a row, thanks to another day in which her times beat all but French superwoman Ludivine Puy. Forsberg’s teammates Amanda Mastin and Lacy Jones had markedly worse fifth days than fourth days due to injury and just plain fatigue. But at least they’re still rolling, so if one of the teams in front of them (France, Sweden and Australia, in that order) falters, the Americans could certainly pick up the pieces and possibly get back on the podium.

Day Six will be a ride of approximately 50 miles to the final motocross test, which is being held at a motcross grand prix track. But win, lose or draw, most of the Americans won’t be able to celebrate as they have to disassemble their bikes, put them back into their crates and put those crates back into the shipping container immediately following the close of Day Six. Live TV coverage of the final motos of E1, E2 and E3 is expected.