Nicolas Sarkozy, Elections | featured news

The battle between Socialist Party leader Francois Hollande and President Nicolas Sarkozy could well go down to the wire.

The two contenders for the French presidency entered the final day of campaigning Friday, with opinion polls giving challenger Francois Hollande the edge over President Nicolas Sarkozy.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy was narrowly beaten into second place in presidential elections Sunday, as the National Front candidate Marine Le Pen posted the best result ever for a far-right candidate, the Interior Ministry announced with all the votes counted Monday.

Far-rightist Marine Le Pen threw France's presidential race wide open on Sunday by scoring nearly 20 percent in the first round - votes that may determine the runoff between Socialist favorite Francois Hollande and conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy.

France's presidential election race resumes on Friday, irrevocably altered by the killing of an al Qaeda-inspired gunman whose murders have shifted the political debate in favor of incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy's center-right bloc suffered a comprehensive defeat in Sunday's local elections, but managed to cling on to power in one mainland region to avoid a whitewash, exit polls said.