It’ll all depend how it’s raced. Obviously it’ll suit France and Italy and Spain if those long (by British standards) climbs are ridden fast, whereas Norway or Germany or Ireland would prefer if everyone takes it easy until the circuit.Thanks! Hard to say whether that's harder than the extra laps on the circuit would have been.
I think it’s great to have the first portion out on the moors. It would surely defeat the purpose of having a Worlds in Yorkshire if the whole event was a 14km city-center circuit. Plus it mixes the terrain up a bit; you couldn’t put a 5km climb into a <15km circuit without turning the whole race into a climber-only-need-apply affair, but having the long ride into the countryside at the start gives the the chance to do that.
I get the feeling the circuits are going to be a lot harder than they look. Especially after 250kms of racing.