A multi-vehicle accident claimed the life of two men, including an internationally known cyclist, early Wednesday on I-70.
The Utah Highway Patrol said the accident began when an eastbound semi truck and trailer overcorrected near the Utah-Colorado border after drifting off of the right soft shoulder. The semi overturned, landing on its side. A Mercedes-Benz van blasted through the trailer a moment later and came to a rest on the other side. Stephen Tilford, 57, of Topeka, Kansas and the other occupants of the van got out to survey the scene. It was then that a second semi crashed into the wreckage killing both Tilford and the driver of the second semi, 70-year-old Stanley Williams of Grand Junction, Colorado. A passenger in the Mercedes was hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries. The driver of the first semi did not have any reported injuries. Tilford was inducted into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame in 2000, he had five Union Cycliste Internationale masters’ class championships, four U.S. National Cyclo-Cross titles and two world championships in Masters Cyclocross competitions, in addition to a U.S. National Mountain Bike championship.