sjafafa said:
Why would Nibali testing positive reflect badly on the UCI?
Because they said Nibali's TdF was cleans. It would be THE MOST visible credibility problem for the UCI since Armstrong and directly impact the July fans.
Some poor Continental guys that have an almost non-existent fanbase, aren't bringing in WT sponsor revenue, can't afford a vigorous defense don't affect the UCI's credibility and provides enough technical and PR trouble to deny Astana a WT license.
Why they are aggressively pursuing Astana is an open question. Maybe IOC-level politics involved, maybe ASO wants them gone.. Lots of maybes.
Let's be fair to the 2014 TdF performances, 2nd-5th was reasonably cleans. Some rightly argue Nibali was clean-ish. There is another thread for that though.