Heathpack 

This is one of those things that I don't fully get- lots of national level races are at altitude. People are affected differently by altitude, its not something you can train away. So it seems like a course gets picked that favors some athletes over others whereas I assume you'd want an event like Nationals to be testing race skills/intelligence, fitness, training, prep. Rather than something random and out of an athlete's hands like the effect of altitude.

For the track, I get it that there's limited velodromes with a roof, so it makes more sense. But for racing on the road, to me it would make sense to choose venues with good courses for the widest variety of racers. Make it a real contest.