With record unemployment and the French economy reacting sluggishly to Mr Hollande's plodding reforms, Mr Sarkozy had expected to triumph in this month's elections.
But in Dundee, where Alex Salmond was expected to triumph, there was audible sigh of disappointment when the chief counting officer said the turnout there was a low 78.8 per cent.
Following Sunday's elections, she is expected to triumph in the southern region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur - her outspoken grandparent's heartland.
Reg Harris, who had won the world amateur sprint title in 1947, was widely expected to triumph at the London Games.
How things have changed: she has seen her national poll lead shrink to as little as five or six points, and she is being run close in Super Tuesday states where she expected to triumph.
So large was the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) victory in general elections in May 2014, led by Narendra Modi, that his party was widely expected to triumph again in state elections in Maharashtra and Haryana, held on October 15th.
While none of the four main favourites were expected to triumph in this race of truth, Vincenzo Nibali landed the first early jab, finishing 43 seconds behind Dennis and seven ahead of Chris Froome.
Trump is expected to triumph in another big winner-takes-all primary next week in Arizona and, despite Kasich's temporary speed bump in Ohio, could indeed reach the magic 1,237 before the convention.
This year, Dole expected to triumph easily in the Iowa straw poll on Aug. 19, but barely managed a first-place tie with his nemesis Sen. Phil Gramm, who claimed a victory.
PRAGUE — Fifteen years after the ethnic war in Bosnia ended, an outspoken nationalist Bosnian Serb leader was expected to triumph in elections there on Sunday, reinforcing ethnic divisions and threatening to rip apart the fragile country, according to political leaders and analysts.
