Jacobsen struggled at the finish of Trevieja on Saturday and did not win every sprint in Valenciana this year. But on Sunday evening, he said in a sportsmanlike manner, "That's life, that's sprinting."
And his eventual return to the overall lead after his second stage win in Trento made his eventual comeback all the more impressive.
Jacobsen also won in Valencia two years ago, but that time in the center of the city, with a more technical finish. However, moving the stage to a main street on the outskirts of the Valencia provincial capital did not seem to be a problem.
"Yesterday [Saturday] I got boxed in, but that's life, that's sprinting. You can't win all the time, it's nice to win twice and bring home the points jersey," Jacobsen said.
Jacobsen, of the Netherlands, said his 27th victory was the result of a massive team effort, including hard work in the last kilometer by Remco Evenpole, his third in Valencia.
"He's a special kid," Jacobsen said of his Belgian teammate, who played a role for the Dutchman despite having to defend second place overall. He's like a little brother to me. We have a special bond. He helps me. He's the perfect teammate and I look forward to racing with him."
But the team's teammate, Bergi, is also a great friend and a great teammate to me.
However, Jacobsen insisted on Sunday that he had to name all of his teammates who contributed to his second win of the season and Quick Step Alphavinil's third.
"Joseph Czerny was early on, Mattia Cattaneo was later on, and Lemko showed his legs and his form today," Jacobsen said.
"Yves Lampert put (lead-out man Michael) Morkoff in perfect position. All I had to do was sprint for 150 meters and I'm really happy to have kept the lead and won for the team."
Jacobsen said that Valenciana was an ideal preparation race for the Classics and that he would definitely return in the future.
"It was a very good race. We were lucky with the weather, because the first three days were hard, so we were lucky with the weather.
"In the first three stages, I recorded one-day race power numbers and heart rates day after day. It was like a training block [yesterday's sprint stage was good, and today we ran at full throttle for two hours.
Jacobsen will continue on to the Volta ao Algarve and then the Coure Brussel-Coone in 10 days, but the Dutchman is already ahead of where he was two years ago when he last raced the Vuelta a España last September (three stages and the points jersey), in Valenciana. He says he is ahead of the pack.
"If you ride the Vuelta and have a good winter, you can feel that your form is getting better and better, I already won here two years ago, but then of course there was a pandemic and the season was interrupted. Now I feel like I'm at the same level or a little bit better.
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