Vine entered the seven-day event fresh off his overall victory in the Santos Tour Down Under last month and was tipped to contend once again in the United Arab Emirates.
Instead, the 27-year-old was forced to withdraw on the eve of Stage 3, with UAE Team Emirates opting to give their new rider more time to recover.
"Vine came into the race with some light knee pain from a training injury which has not improved this week," the team said in a release.
"It was therefore decided to withdraw him from the event as a precaution in order to allow him time to recover."
The former Alpecin-Fenix rider would have been one of his team’s top performers alongside Adam Yates and Brandon McNulty on the third stage, one ultimately won atop Jebel Jais by Einer Rubio (Movistar).
Vine’s injury only hinders UAE’s general classification hopes as a result, in what is their first year without two-time defending champion Tadej Pogačar leading the way.
The Australian was one of several UAE members caught out in the echelons on Stage 1 and the subsequent time loss has since left the side facing an uphill battle at the halfway mark of the race.
Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step), who finished second behind Einer, now leads the overall rankings with four stages remaining, seven seconds ahead of Australian Luke Plapp (Ineos Grenadiers).
