Nils Pollitt has a plan B if Katusha Alpecin is disbanded after this season.

The 25-year-old is one of 11 players on the team's roster who are under contract next year. However, with Alpecin and bike supplier Canyon set to leave the company, and with no current financial solution, the existing team is in limbo.

The latest development to save the team is a deal between current team owner Igor Makarov and the Israel Cycling Academy.

The deal has not yet been ratified, and the UCI must submit bank guarantees, rosters, and other documents by October 1 in order to secure a World Tour license for 2020.

Katusha's management has been pursuing additional funding for the team's survival since the beginning of the year and remained confident that the Tour de France would find a solution.

However, months have passed and the situation is now critical, with general manager Jose Azevedo confirming to Cycling News last week that he will leave the team regardless of its future and that a new contract has been postponed.

Pollitt is one of the few active riders to have had success this season. He finished second in Paris-Roubaix to cap off an excellent Classics campaign. However, the past few months have not been easy for the players and staff involved in Katusha-Alpecin.

"It's certainly not a good situation," he told Cycling News at the Road World Championships in Yorkshire.

"At the moment there is no news yet, we have to wait, October 1 is not far away, so I think we have to decide something on that date. I'm sure I have a plan with the manager, but first I have a contract with Katusha and if they want to continue I'll stay."

If Katusha continues, Pollitt will be involved in the operation, whether under the name of the current lead sponsor or another. Asked if he would like to stay with the team if Katusha were to continue, the 25-year-old replied: "I have to stay there. I have a two-year contract. I have one more year with Katusha.

Even if the team does continue, plans to strengthen the squad, led by Pollitt, have been hampered by ineptitude in the transfer market.

Players who could have been signed to help Pollitt in the classics have already been poached by other teams.

"It would have been better if the situation had been clearly defined in June or July. Many good riders have already gone to other teams. The market today is not in the same situation as it was at the beginning of the year. I have to accept the situation and do my best. This year was a good year for me and I need to focus on the classics for next year."

"I have a plan B, but I don't want to talk about it. First of all, I want a clear answer whether I have to stay here or not."

Pollitt competed in the mixed team time trial at the World Championships on Sunday, winning a bronze medal as part of the German team.

While the German men appeared to be struggling, the team's three women performed flawlessly, helping them to a second place finish behind the Netherlands and ahead of the host nation Great Britain.

The event replaced the trade team time trial as the opening event of the World Championships, and after controversy, opinions were divided. Pollitt believes that the mixed event will improve in the coming years and that as the competition grows,

stronger teams will take this event more seriously.

"I'm really proud of the silver medal, it's a great achievement.

"Ultimately, it was a great competition. It was the first time and it will be a year or two before other countries like Australia start coming to this event. Maybe this will be the first time that this will happen and we will find out that it is not a bad event."