The French on the way to final (4)
I believe the answer is:
last
'final' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'the french on the way' is the wordplay.
'the french' becomes 'la' ('the' in French).
'on' means one lot of letters go next to another (in a down clue, letters appear on others).
'the way' becomes 'st' (abbreviation for street).
'la'+'st'='LAST'
'to' is the link.
(Other definitions for last that I've seen before include "Final; keep going" , "Cargo to stay fresh" , "Shoemaker's model" , "Form on which a shoe is made" , "Piece of cobbler's equipment" .)