The 24-year-old former Mitchelton-Scott man triumphed from a bunch sprint after a 205 kilometre journey from Palm Jumeirah to Hatta Dam.

He won after an uphill finish, clocking 4 hours 27min 7sec. 

Italy's Matteo Moschetti of Trek-Segafredo was second, two seconds back, as race leader Primož Roglič of Slovenia and Team Jumbo-Visma came third on the same time.

Roglič was able to extend his general classification advantage with the bonus seconds earned for coming third.

He now has a 21-second lead over Spain's reigning world road race champion Alejandro Valverde, who was unable to make it two stage wins in a row.

The Movistar cyclist crashed with around 6.5km to go to rule him out of contention at the finish.

David Gaudu of Groupama-FDJ and France is third overall, 38 seconds adrift of the pace.

"My advantage over the other sprinters today is that their weight is about 80 kilograms and I'm only 67, so my power-to-weight ratio is better for such a climb at 17 per cent," said Ewan. 

"I knew I had to start the climb no further than fifth or sixth position. 

"[Alexander] Kristoff started and once I found the right gear I could pass him. 

"Before that, when the last crash happened, I was already at the front. 

"Today's win is a good sign ahead of Milan-Sanremo which is my main goal of the first part of the year."

Tomorrow's stage of the International Cycling Union WorldTour race is a 181km route from Sharjah to Khor Fakkan.

Two stages will remain after that.

 "I felt the heat today but I was always well protected from the wind by my team-mates," said Roglič after defending the red jersey.

"Caleb Ewan was the strongest today. 

"He won easily. 

"I just wanted to go as fast as possible to the finish. 

"Every day can be decisive, so I'll work on keeping the jersey with the team tomorrow before I make plans for Friday's (March 1) uphill finish."