French election: Sarkozy and Hollande in final push
Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande are making their final pitch for votes in one of the most dramatic elections in recent French history.
Opinion polls suggest the incumbent president has cut Mr Hollande's lead slightly but is still trailing his Socialist challenger by some 6%.
Analysts say he needs a major reversal in fortunes to win on Sunday.
He suffered a blow when centrist Francois Bayrou, who took 9.1% in the first round, backed Mr Hollande.
In a radio interview on Friday, Mr Sarkozy said he would form a new government in 48 hours if re-elected.
He is also set to give a speech at Sables d'Olonne in western France.
Mr Hollande will travel to Moselle for a campaign speech, followed by a visit to Perigueux in the Dordogne region for his final rally.
Campaigning officially finishes at midnight local time (22:00 GMT).
'Beaten long ago'
Mr Bayrou, who came fifth in the first round of voting, said he would be voting for Mr Hollande.
Though he once served with the president in a right-wing cabinet, he said Mr Sarkozy had gone too far to the right, abandoning European values and moving too close to the far right's position on immigration.
Speaking to Europe 1 radio on Friday, Mr Sarkozy retorted that he had won the election in 2007 without Mr Bayrou's endorsement.
"There is a feeling among the French that this avalanche of commentaries and polls... is robbing them of some of their freedom," he said.
The BBC's Hugh Schofield in Paris says that unless the polls turn out to be wrong, Mr Sarkozy looks set to be the first French president since Valery Giscard d'Estaing in 1981 not to win a second term.
The president has been courting the votes of the supporters of far-right National Front (FN) leader Marine Le Pen.
She has already said she will be leaving her ballot blank rather than vote for Mr Sarkozy or his rival.
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