You could say feel...I believe feel doesn't have much to do with it. Pros test against the clock. Lance was faster on 175mm cranks. Btw, if you listen to Leonard Zinn, Lance was correctly placed on 175mm cranks per his inseam.
Point to discussion here is physical size of a rider is only one metric. Riders exactly the same size in the pro peleton can ride completely different frames sizes as noted. One metric where there is relative close agreement as an example here...is the reach dimension of saddle tip to handlebar. It is perhaps surprisingly similar for pro riders relative to body size....even though that reach dimension can be constructed with very different drop and horizontal components of reach.