Sounds like a good route to me, they were unfortunate last year to have the use of Alwen withdrawn last minute.

Plenty of possible stage configurations within Clocaenog/Brenig, the drivers enjoy Alwen, and a single run through Elsi prevents the road cutting up too much.

I don't see much point in linking up Brenig/Alwen, additional cost/admin required for the road closure seems unnecessary when they can run a long stage through Clocaenog/Brenig.