The Slovenian put his nose in the wind with over 130km still to go, making the most of a lull in the proceedings after the intermediate sprint, but rival teams soon jumped on this moment of panic.
Instead, the race came down to a bunch sprint in Umm al Quwain, with UAE Team Emirates-XRG staying well positioned throughout a finale hit by crosswinds.
Pogačar now takes his 18-second lead over Josh Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers) into stage 5 on Friday.
UAE Tour general classification after stage 4
- Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 12:23:42
- Josh Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers) +18″
- Pablo Castrillo (Movistar) +23″
- Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +33″
