As a general rule, yes. This isn't taking into account that a smaller rider can have superior neural adaptations, thus making him stronger and/or more powerful (force vs power) than a rider with a greater cross section of thigh muscle.
Neural adaptations are where the bigger is better theory falls flat. There are many Olympic lifters (power) and powerlifters (force) than can easily out perform larger and more heavily muscled bodybuilders in max singles in the big lifts.
When getting into higher reps, the bodybuilders
can have an edge (Note the Tom Platz vs Fred Hatfield contest... Hatfield beat Platz in a max single, but Platz could do higher reps with a lower weight. It was pretty interesting if you want to google it. )
True, especially considering any upper body bulk is just dead weight that needs to be carried up hills or through accellerations and makes for horrible aerodynamics.
There's a problem right there. Skinny guys, or Ectomorphs, typically can't build much muscle mass. If they do they need to do it in the weight room as what they would do in the big gear just would not be enough stimulus even while consuming gargantuan portions of food daily. So let's assume for the sake of the argument that they are Ecto-Mesomorphs instead, OK?
No need for bodyfat levels to go up at all, in fact.
Truth be told they probably needed more protein in their roadie days. Endurance athletes need more than bodybuilders, even the ones using steroids. Track cycling isn't going to be as catabolic as road cycling, therefore not as high of a protein requirement. Bodybuilding need not be catabolic at all unless one is a chronic overtrainer, which unfortunately is common.
It shouldn't take 2 full years to add 20 lbs of lean tissue unless one is a real Ectomorph (see above), especially if one has never embarked on a strength/hypertrophy training program before.
The majority of beginners always seem to have stellar progress during their first year of resistance training even on a haphazard program. After a period of adaptation, however, the law of diminishing returns kicks in and they have to train harder and smarter to keep making progress.
I would think so.
OK. Yes and at that point any further gains would be counter productive.
The problem is that by training the large muscles of the lower body it is almost impossible to keep from gaining all over. GAS,
or the General Adaptation Syndrom will cause one to gain upper body mass as well, even though that is not a desired outcome. By training the huge muscles of the upper legs their ponderal index will also increase. This is why you don't see 20 inch arms on guys that weigh 170 lbs.
Yes, it is actually possible but only up to a point. It will also depend on the genetic predisposition of the individual rider in question. The type of rider that can build muscle in their legs may not be very good at endurance activities at all. As such they may gravitate toward sports where instantaneous burst speed is more important, such as American football, soccer, pro wrastlin', etc.
Not in my world it isn't unless one has had an extensive layoff. 60 % 1RM can induce a training response in beginning lifters but not in a seasoned veteran lifter. It just isn't enough intensity.
Don't get me wrong as I think 20 rep sets - especially for quads - have their place, but they are pretty much useless for the fast twitch hamstrings. The size increases gained from high rep sets is called sarcoplasmic, which is an increase of fluid and supportive structures, such as mitochondrian and capillaries. The lower repitition sets are where the actual muscle proteins of actin and myosin increase in size and density.
As stated before they can but only up to a point as they will eventually adapt to that level of resistance. Then they would need more reisistance in order to go through another apdaptive phase.
Some coaches (Carmichael comes to mind) advise that big gear cycling should be done shortly after heavy weight training in order for there to be a higher functional carryover.
Sometimes I think that is exactly what needs to be done. In fact I think that the body becomes so stale to a particular style of riding that it may need a shock to the system in order to start the adaptive process all over again.