The race was won by Damien Howson of Orica–Scott,[3][4] who took his first professional victories at the race; having won the race's queen stage to Falls Creek,[5][6] Howson was able to maintain a 38-second race lead for the remainder of the Tour. The remaining podium places were taken by those that finished immediately behind Howson at Falls Creek; Jai Hindley finished second for an Australian select team, and took out the white jersey for the young rider classification, while a further 15 seconds in arrears, Kenny Elissonde took third place for Team Sky.[1]
The race route was released on 1 December 2016, with a route described by race director, and former three-time race winner, John Trevorrow as the "toughest course in recent history".[9]