Yes, as the authors discuss, the only thing novel about their protocol is the use of very short, maximal sprints.
As for mechanisms, I see no reason to hypothesize that this (or any other) protocol would emphasize peripheral over central adaptations.
Nice! I always assumed this function was only there to automatically start you workout when pedaling, so I left it on. Now it seems it has a double function to avoid stopping, great to learn!
You’d have to make sure the 2nd group dropped a few watts within the Z2 spectrum otherwise they would have “extra” training and you’d have a skewed load and lack like:like comparison. But yes do agree with you , a good experiment to explore.