Personal thought experiment, guide me along..............
Isn't part of it that rowers and cross country skiers use more musculature when making power than a cyclist, so the application of VO2max might be a bit skewed in comparison?
ml/min per kg. More kg's of muscle being supplied to might matter?
So they can't realistically use all of the crazy vo2max they have if they got off the skis and only rode the bike as a transition to a pro cyclist.