The La Sportiva Prodigio Professional ($195) is the second shoe launched within the model’s newer Prodigio line and is taken into account by many to be their high-end path racing shoe. In my assessment of the La Sportiva Prodigio final August, I praised the shoe for its simplicity and flexibility. A middle-of-the-road match mixed with nice cushioning and a sticky, sturdy outsole made it a shoe that might deal with a wide range of conditions, starting from technical terrain to tame grime paths, and match plenty of totally different folks. The unique Prodigio was an incredible all-arounder that actually reframed the way in which that I considered the model.
With the Prodigio Professional, La Sportiva took a tried-and-true idea and gave it some premium options, together with a knit higher, stickier outsole, and nitrogen-infused midsole. The shoe, like the unique, has many options that make it accessible to a wide range of runners, together with an affordable 6-millimeter drop. The claimed 34 millimeter stack peak on the heel and 28 millimeters on the toe are the identical as the unique Prodigio as properly, however this shoe feels rather more cushioned and able to tackle large miles. The deeper 4-millimeter lugs additionally present higher traction on free terrain, and a barely wider toebox improves consolation over longer distances.
Like many La Sportiva fashions, this one runs a bit small, and I like to recommend sizing up by at the least half a measurement to get the proper size. The shoe has an precise weight of 9.4 ounces (267 grams) for a U.S. males’s 9.5, which is equal to a U.S. males’s 9 in different shoe manufacturers.
There’s a lot to love about this new Prodigio Professional mannequin, however there are additionally some critiques that must be addressed.
Store the Males’s La Sportiva Prodigio ProfessionalStore the Ladies’s La Sportiva Prodigio Professional
La Sportiva Prodigio Professional Higher
A lateral view of the La Sportiva Prodigio Professional.
The La Sportiva Prodigio Professional higher is considerably totally different from the unique Prodigio. La Sportiva makes use of a knit-looking higher with their Energy Wire know-how, which supplies an extremely safe match, particularly throughout the mid-foot. Whereas the outer materials of the higher, which has TPU reinforcements, is sort of tough to the contact, the recycled 3D mesh liner on the within is fairly gentle. The match feels very locked in for my average-sized foot. Much like the unique Prodigio, La Sportiva classifies the Prodigio Professional match as extensive, and this mannequin does have extra width to it, particularly by the forefoot, than most different sneakers from the model.
The mesh liner extends to the tongue and across the heel collar to make a comfortable match across the ankle to maintain particles out. Moreover, the tongue has cushioning pods sewn in beneath the place the laces lie towards the highest of the foot. In my expertise with the Prodigio Professional, the mesh higher holds my foot so securely that I barely have to lace the shoe with any strain. The tongue-ankle collar mixture extends moderately excessive, and a few runners have skilled the considerably stiff materials chopping into the anterior tibialis tendon when going uphill. I are likely to put on ankle or crew size socks after I run trails, which protects the world, and I haven’t had any points.
Runners will both love the Prodigio Professional’s safe match or discover it too restrictive. Additional consideration needs to be taken when accounting for foot swelling throughout extremely distances or excessive warmth and humidity. The unique Prodigio offered some room for toes to swell, whereas the Professional could really feel extra cosy. This actually is a private desire.
What can’t be argued is that La Sportiva designed a sturdy higher that manages to flex properly with the foot over technical terrain whereas inspiring confidence with its safe match.
La Sportiva Prodigio Professional Midsole
A medial view of the La Sportiva Prodigio Professional.
The midsole of the La Sportiva Prodigio Professional is a game-changer. It’s manufactured from a nitrogen-infused TPU XFlow Pace internal core with an EVA XFlow outer cage. Whereas not groundbreaking or new in any approach, the tuning of this midsole actually hits the mark because it manages to really feel gentle, gentle, and responsive whereas offering a way of vitality return. My runs within the Prodigio Professional have consisted of rocky, muddy, and root-filled trails, and the midsole absorbs the terrain with out feeling squishy. Working within the Prodigio Professional is a lightweight and nimble expertise with out having to fret about experiencing a stone bruise.
The comparatively middle-of-the-road stack peak of 34 millimeters on the heel to twenty-eight millimeters on the toe yields a pleasing 6-millimeter drop, and the sub-10-ounce weight for my U.S. measurement 10.5 sneakers lends to this sense of effectivity, velocity, and safety. The shoe additionally has an affordable quantity of rocker, leading to a easy transition all through the gait.
La Sportiva makes use of its proprietary polyurethane-coated XFoam Speedfilm nylon mesh as a barely-there rockplate. I used to be shocked how properly my toes have been protected against sharp rocks whereas feeling like I used to be in a light-weight and springy shoe.
La Sportiva Prodigio Professional Outsole
The outsole of the La Sportiva Prodigio Professional.
The La Sportiva Prodigio Professional has the model’s FriXion white rubber, the stickiest rubber compound utilized by the model, for the outsole. This compound was examined over moist roots and slimy rocks in excessive humidity, and I couldn’t imagine the quantity of buy this outsole afforded me. The 4-millimeter chevron-shaped lugs shed mud simply and didn’t hassle me whereas operating on pavement to the trailhead. These lugs are deeper than these on the unique Prodigio and dig into free surfaces fairly properly.
That is the type of path shoe that I might attain for in any terrain as it’s sturdy, sticky, and unobtrusive.
La Sportiva Prodigio Professional General Impressions
A high view of the La Sportiva Prodigio Professional.
For my part, the La Sportiva Prodigio Professional actually ranges up the model’s path shoe choices. I beloved the flexibility and cushioning of the Prodigio as an incredible all-arounder, and the Prodigio Professional employs premium options whereas nonetheless sustaining that versatility. It is a shoe that I might use for something from a path 10k to a 50-mile extremely, whatever the path terrain. In an evaluation of the sneakers on the beginning line of the 2025 Hardrock 100, the Prodigio Professional was the second-most used shoe. It evokes velocity and confidence due to the locked-down higher, and the midsole materials supplies a few of the finest light-weight cushioning available on the market.
Store the Males’s La Sportiva Prodigio ProfessionalStore the Ladies’s La Sportiva Prodigio Professional
Name for Feedback
- Have you ever had an opportunity to run within the La Sportiva Prodigio Professional? What are your ideas on the shoe?
- Have you ever additionally run in any of the opposite Prodigio fashions? In that case, how do they examine?
Our Favourite Path Working Footwear
Try our Greatest Path Working Footwear article to find out about our present favourite path trainers!
