Does the UCI have a strategy?

I read today that the UCI is suspending the French Cycling Federation.

Here's the key graph:

The statement said that no French riders or events would be under threat from the consequences of the decision.

"The UCI Management Committee rejected the option to exclude French riders from the World Championships and other international events, in particular the Olympic Games." McQuaid said, adding that he was "satisfied that the sanctions did not affect French riders or events."

The sanctions mean the French federation, according to the UCI, cannot participate in the next UCI Congress, will be unable to put forward candidates for elections, cannot work on committess or commissions, and will forego, or not be allowed to organize a world championships."

Has anyone at the UCI ever studied a class on strategy or strategic planning? How, exactly, is this going to have any negative effect on the FCC? I have watched with interest over the last four years as the UCI has steadily lost power and squandered every opportunity to maintain or strengthen its influence.

Here's the deal. The only real power the UCI has is to sanction riders and teams by refusing to allow them access to the world championships and olympics. That's really it. And that power is directly proportionate to the percieved importance of those events. And the importance of those events is not an unchanging absolute.

Right now, the Worlds is at its peak value. No one knows who will go and the assumption is the field will be strong. Excluding French teams would be a big punishment. By not exluding them, the UCI gives the FCC and other federations no reason to come back into the fold. And if any other federation follows the FCCs example (which is likely to happen now that the sanction is known) the power of exclusion from worlds or the olympics drops. Why? Because excluding say France and Spain would dramatically reduce the percieved value of the events themselves thus weekening the threat.