So, now I'm starting to back track and answer my own question but I think when I said that cyclists in moderate-to-heavy training underestimate their needs, this is a good example.

Plugging in your stats for someone with a "sedentary" lifestyle yields a daily need of 1,970. That's assuming no extra movement beyond a desk job, for example. Then, let's assume you burn 600 calories an hour (presumptuous, but seems like a fair middle ground). An average of 12hrs/week of training+burning 600 kcal per hour=7200kcal.
7200/7=~1028.5 ON TOP of your BMR (of course your BMR would be more if you spend time doing other physical activities throughout the day, but this is the bare minimum for everyone, unless you're in a COMA, in which case you would burn 1934.

So, 1934+1028=2998.

EDIT: I know these numbers are not concrete due to a million factors such as metabolism, thermal effect of food, blah blah blah etc. But it's a base nonetheless.

I've used the above information for myself and it's undoubtedly helpful, I think why I am struggling is because I am quite active throughout the day (physical job, commute by bike, walk a lot, etc) but I always use my sedentary BMR+exercise calories just to be sure I don't go overboard. I never over eat, I measure nearly all my portions, and I never eat anything unhealthy.

I think the issue just lies in finding a comfortable number so I optimally recover, especially as the season gets closer, and that seems to be needing more fuel.