Williams was the first man home in the 45km elite open section in a time of 1hr 36min 21sec and said the tour, which attracted 845 cyclists, suited all levels of riders "in such spectacular terrain."
"It was awesome and everyone was so positive about it.
"For many of us it was great to ride trails that we haven't been on before and the single tracks in particular were fantastic.
"This is going to become huge in the future."
The 36km recreational event started at Millbrook Resort, following a recently opened trail through Millbrook West to Speargrass Flat Rd.
From there it led over Slopehill Rd to a single track alongside the Shotover River and across the restored Lower Shotover Bridge.
Off the bridge, a tight track led on to the wide gravel roads of the Shotover Delta, through a gravel pit, followed by 300m of single track along the banks of the Kawarau River.
The next stage rode through Remarkables Park, on to the state highway and across the Kawarau Bridge, followed by another short section of state highway to the privately owned Kawarau River road on Coneburn Station, finishing at Chard Farm vineyard.
Williams rode neck and neck all the way with Alexandra's Malcolm McLeod and took the open title after a final sprint to the finish line, just 9sec ahead of McLeod.
The fastest woman was elite veteran Raylene Bates (Mosgiel) in 1:59.15, just pipping Georgie McLean (Clyde) in the elite open, who clocked 2:01.47.
In the sports division, veteran Oliver Young (Wanaka) was fastest in 1:43.40 and Barbara Buchanan, competing in the masters section, was the fastest woman in 2:11.15.
Veteran Greg Paterson (Invercargill) had the winning time in the recreational division (1:39.43) and Pippa Jerram (Christchurch), competing in the open section, was fastest woman in 1:43.48.
Race director Geoff Hunt said while the elite athletes could make a race of the event, it was the first-time event riders the Tour de Wakatipu targeted.
"There were over 450 riders in the recreational division and many had never entered an event before.
"The feedback was that they loved every minute of it, although the final grunt up the hill, through the Chard Farm vineyard to the finish line, was a surprise."
The Tour de Wakatipu raised $4500 for the Cure Kids charity.
