Sarkozy leads Royal in election battle

Presidential front-runner Nicolas Sarkozy said months of campaigning had made him think of France as a person, while rival Segolene Royal called herself a free woman and said election victory was within reach.

Both held their last big rallies yesterday before Sunday’s vote that will elect one of them as France’s new leader, rallying voters in opposite ends of the country – Royal in the north, Sarkozy in the south.