After a year-long delay caused by COVID-19, the inaugural Mudgee Classic went ahead on Sunday, welcoming thousands of riders to the local region.

More than 2,000 participants registered for the three-course event, and according to event founder, James Yaffa, approximately 90 per cent of participants did not have a Mid-Western area postcode.

"It was a great success, we had a very strong turnout of people coming from all corners of Australia," he said.

"Sydney is one of the areas where the majority of people reside but we did have a lot of riders from regional Australia. We also had a lot of Victorian numbers."

The visitors, who created the 'electric' feel around town for Yaffa, are estimated to have injected over $1 billion dollars into the local economy.

"One of the beauties is that Mudgee is not close enough to Sydney that people would go back in a day so they stay a couple of nights, it's fantastic," Yaffa said.

"Some people will never like what we do but the reality is, an overwhelming majority we're happy with our contribution and performance."

Following this year's success, the Mudgee Classic will undoubtedly return with dates for 2022 already locked in.

"We have a contract with Destination NSW, and the Mid-Western Regional Council certainly want us back. We hit all of our CPI's in terms of economic contribution of visitation so we're absolutely coming back," Yaffa said.

The 2022 Mudgee Classic is scheduled for April 30 to May 1.

Additional information regarding the Gran Fondo event will be released in the near future.

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