ONE of Australia's biggest cycling festivals and Queensland's biggest competitive tour – The VELO Battle on the Border Cycling Festival – hit Tweed this weekend.

The Battle on the Border consists of the Tour De Tweed 4 Stage Competitive Cycling Tour and the Tweed Daily News Gran Fondo multi-distance social rides.

The event drew a large crowd to the region when it kicked off on Friday.

Battle on the Border organiser and owner of QSM Sports, Michael Crawley, said a record number of riders arrived in Tweed for the event.

“The number of riders at the event are definitely up from last year,” Mr Crawley said.

“We have 380 racers here and this is one of the biggest racing festivals in Australia.

“The riders have come from all over Australia, including Sydney, the tablelands and Coffs Harbour.”

Mr Crawley said the Tweed region always proved to be the perfect location for the event.

“There are great hills and a great location. It was the perfect afternoon for the social ride.”

The battle has been billed as both a competitive and family affair, and is held annually on the first weekend of May.

Destination Tweed general manager Phil Villiers said Tweed is honoured to host the important event.

“It's one of the biggest festivals in Australia and having it on the Queensland long weekend is perfect timing,” Mr Villiers said.

“The organisers at QSM Sports did a fantastic job and it is great to see so many people travel to the region for it.”

Mr Villiers said the Tweed economy received a boost from the event, with hotels and venues catering to the large crowds.

“The base for the event was at Salt, so certainly venues like Mantra and Peppers were in demand,” Mr Villiers said.

“Having this event sets a precedent that we hope will encourage other events to take place in Tweed.”