ALEX Thomson is closing the gap on Vendée Globe leader Armel Le Cléac'h as the solo round-the-world race reaches its conclusion.

After an action-packed 73 days, the pair were practically neck and neck going into the last 500 miles.

Thomson is nipping at Le Cléac'h's heels as the pair prepared for their penultimate night at sea last night.

Frustratingly for the battling duo, despite already reaching the latitude of the finish line in Les Sables d'Olonne, France, they are being forced to sail much further north due to an anticyclone currently blocking their path home.

The routing the pair must follow could take them as far north as the Scilly Isles, an archipelago off the coast of Cornwall, before they can tack and finally point their bows towards the finish.

Hugo Boss skipper Thomson has scythed another ten miles off Le Cléac'h's advantage today, and earlier this afternoon was doing 20.4 knots compared to his French rival's 19.7.

But even at that rate he will not be able to reduce the deficit enough to overhaul Le Cléac'h before the finish line.

Thomson's hopes of becoming the first Brit to win the Vendée Globe in its 27-year history lie in tactics, namely the precise moment to tack and head for Les Sables.

The current ETA for the leaders is tomorrow afternoon.

You can follow the conclusion here.