Dylan Groenewegen's competitive spirit is alive and well this year, as Jumbo Visma took his first win of the season on stage 1 of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana.

Last year, in Valencia's first group sprint on stage 2, Groenewegen struggled on the final climb and was unable to pick up the pace, finishing the day with Jumbo Visma's first win on the final stage of the five-day race.

Fast forward 12 months later, and despite the lumpy terrain of the early stages of the first stage, Groenewegen had no such teething problems. His final battle with Fabio Jacobsen (Dečuninck-Quickstep) was very tight on the long, straight road to the finish in Vila-Real.

Jacobsen, 26, finally saw off his compatriot for his first win since Ronde Van Zeelandt, his last race of 2019 last October. It was also the third consecutive year for Jumbo Visma to score his first win of the season in Valencia, with Danny van Poppel's victory in the first stage in 2018 preceding Groenewegen's wins in 2019 and 2020.

"It was a really hectic final with a lot of roundabouts at the end," said Groenewegen, who became cycling's most successful season winner with 15 wins in 2019.

"But the team did a really good job, everyone was fresh and wanted to win their first race of the season. But the sprint today was really good for me. It was a bit of an uphill finish and I'm really happy with that."

It is often said that the key to success for sprinters is as much about confidence as it is about being in good shape. Groenewegen corroborated this, saying that getting his first win of the season at the first possible opportunity was really important for Jumbo Visma.

"It was the first opportunity we had to win, and it was really good to get it done," he said.

As usual, Grunwegen was candid about why he prefers to keep the ball rolling in Valencia when so many sprinters make their season debut in races like the Santos Tour Down Under.

Part of the answer lies in logistics, the other is simply that he is happy with his performance in the Spanish competition and sees no reason to change.

"Maybe next year I'll go to Australia," he said with a smile. 'I've trained a lot around here and I like this race.'

With his stage 1 victory, the Dutchman also took the overall lead in the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana. He said he did not expect to be able to maintain his GC lead after Thursday's punchy uphill finish.

"It was too difficult for me," he said. But I should have another chance in the third stage."

A third chance will also come at the finish of stage 5 in Valencia, as it did last year.