Jacobs early career started in cyclo-cross, winning multiple national titles and world cup races.[4] In 2015 Jacobs won the eighth race in the Superprestige at Middelkerke series. This stopped Eli Iserbyt from winning every race in the series.[5] At the Junior Koppenbergcross Jacobs attacked from the start and held off everyone for the entire race forcing Iserbyt and Thijs Wolsink to work together.[6]
Jacobs elected not to ride cyclo-cross race in his final year as an Under-23 instead wanting to focus on road cycling, this put him into the spotlight for a contract with Lotto–Soudal U23.[7]
He was the only rider able to follow the winning move by Tom Pidcock in the Paris–Roubaix Espoirs which earned him a second place.[4] These efforts caught the eye of Movistar Team's manager Eusebio Unzué and led to getting a two-year contract with the UCI WorldTour team in 2020.[4]
While riding the 2021 Vuelta a España Jacobs crashed during stage 9. He went through a guardrail resulting in a broken shoulder, rib and a collapsed lung.[8] He did not race again in the 2021 season.
Movistar Team extended Jacobs contract by one year till the end of 2024.[9]
Jacobs elected to not race cyclo-cross over the 2023 winter so that he would have more time to prepare for the 2024 road season.[10][11]
