Sport footwear for practicing winter sports

An article of footwear for practicing winter sports, the article of footwear comprising:

• a shell to receive a user's foot, the shell made of a first thermoplastic material, the shell comprising a front toe portion and a back heel portion, said shell including a sole at a lower part of the shell,
• said shell comprising a toe coupling projection extending integrally and outwardly in a transverse direction from the front toe portion of the shell, and a heel coupling projection extending integrally and outwardly in a transverse direction from the back heel portion of the shell,
• wherein each of the toe coupling projection and the heel coupling projection are configured to indirectly engage the bindings of a ski or snowboard,
• wherein the first thermoplastic material is selected from a group consisting of:
• polyolefins, blends of polyolefins with other polymers or additives, toughened polyolefins, and another polymer material containing at least one type of polyolefin,
• wherein the sport footwear further comprises:
• at least one contact plate including one or both of a heel contact plate and a toe contact plate, wherein the at least one contact plate is releasably attached to a lower part of the sole in one or both of the heel portion and the toe portion;
• and
• at least one coupling projection protection cover releasably attached on one or on both of said toe coupling projection and said heel coupling projection,
• wherein said at least one coupling projection protection cover is configured to directly engage bindings of a ski or snowboard and the at least one coupling projection cover is made of a second thermoplastic material,
• wherein the second thermoplastic material is a polyurethane-based or polyamide-based material, wherein said second material is different from and has greater mechanical resistance than said first thermoplastic material,
• wherein said at least one coupling projection protection cover is releasably connected between the lower part of the sole and the at least one contact plate, in one or both of the respective toe portion and heel portion, and
• wherein the at least one coupling projection protection cover comprises a concave seating configured to receive a mating convex profile on at least one of the toe coupling projection and the heel coupling projection, the at least one couple coupling projection protection cover comprising attachment portions that each extend laterally inwardly from lateral edges of the concave seating, wherein the attachment portions are separated by a central laterally extending gap and the attachment portions receive releasable attachment members for releasably coupling the at least one coupling projection protection cover to at least one of the toe coupling projection and the heel coupling projection.